The Orzan Conflict
by AlexCros23
Summary: The sequel to the Secret War of Innocence. A new enemy appears amongst the cover-ups created during the secret war of innocence. R&R would be nice, but not necessary.
1. Prologue

*Disclaimer* Gundam is copyrighted by the Bandai Co. and I don't legally own this series. Also, there is no profit involved here. *sigh* these disclaimers are tediously... I wish the Gundam series was as old as Shakespeare's plays. Man that would be awesome. Think about it, we don't have to buy the rights or anything just get it and that would be all the mess involved. On the other hand, we could be having mecha robots instead of tanks in battle. That would be completely devastating on both sides.... lol. Sorry, got lost on this rambling. Back to topic... Oh wait, I'm done.  
  
Prologue  
  
The incident known as "The Secret War of Innocence" to the Preventor administrators was erased from the history from the After Colony timeline.  
  
The pilot of Icedig and BlitzWavine, Alex Cros, was wiped from most databanks, along with any information linking him to the Preventors and the gundam pilots. The mobile suit known as Icedig was salvaged and taken to a Preventor base in one of the L1 colonies for further analysis.  
  
Wufei Chang and Trowa Barton have been reassigned to work on the terraforming project in deep space. The whereabouts of their gundams is unknown.  
  
Unfortunately, the problems have yet to cease from the original conflict.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A squadron of mobile suit transports flew through space in the area where Battleship Orion used to be a few hours ago. The lead transport had its lights illuminate the area for any signs of survivors. There were none. A teenager; he had blonde hair, red eyes, stands 5'10", and was wearing green space suit; stood behind the pilot and co-pilot of the lead transport. His blonde hair shimmered under the light of the cockpit, yet he had his arms crossed along with an angry look on his face. He had come too late, and Alpha Company transmitted the information of the destruction back to headquarters; that action hadn't been a pleasant experience, especially since he had to acknowledge the fact that what was left of his family was dead.   
  
"Sorry sir. It appears they were wiped out." The co-pilot stated with sadness in his heart.  
  
The young man didn't reply.  
  
"Sir. Do you want us to head back?"  
  
The teenager nodded his head slowly without a word said. Before they left the site of the wreckage of the battle, he had one thought through his head.  
  
"They'll pay for what they did to my family... pay in blood." 


	2. Cadet Training

*Disclaimer* Gundam is copyrighted... *head slams into desk* by the Bandai Co.... I know I've been up too long... and what I have in my fanfic isn't legally own by me... Dang it where did I put that glass cleaner... It shouldn't be for... AH! My thumb!... profit and/or any other purposes related to getting something.  
  
Chapter one- Cadet Training  
  
The Australian desert stretched onward for hundreds upon hundreds of miles as the horizon blurred with a tanish-brown color. Kangaroos hopped around as they tried to find a water hole to drink from, and dingoes followed them to get a meal. One of the kangaroos hopped on a rock to escape the dingo. The rock rose up until the kangaroo slid off the sheet that was the rock. The dingo and kangaroo looked up and saw a Leo mobile suit and instinctively ran away like mad. The sixteen-year-old pilot looked at the two animals that ran away from him and sighed.  
  
"Those animals ruined my hiding place. I better find a better place to ambush her."  
  
A blip appeared on the radar of the Leo.  
  
"Too late."  
  
A Taurus jetted at full speed toward the Leo and fired a direct hit to the cockpit.  
  
"This guy is still weak." The girl let out a big sigh.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Date: 20, 5, AC-199  
  
Time: 10:00AM  
  
Location: San Jose, California  
  
Preventor Combat Training Facility  
  
Combat Simulation Room U01  
  
Cockpit pod #10 opened and the pilot of the Leo walked out. He had semi-short red hair, green eyes, and wore trainee pilot clothes. He was about 5'8" tall. He looked up and saw a superior officer. He immediately saluted and acknowledged his superior.  
  
"Ensign Misao Okita, that was pathetic." The officer said right in his face.  
  
"Sir, I didn't mean to get distracted. Sir."  
  
"It was a computer simulation, you shouldn't have been distracted."  
  
Misao kept a straight face while the officer yelled at him, but inside he panicked over his pilot position.  
  
"You have yet to win a single match against anyone. How do you expect to become a pilot at this rate?"  
  
"Sir, I don't know. I just fought the best cadet. How am I supposed to think? Sir."  
  
"Don't say that Ensign. You might have fought our best cadet, but it doesn't matter. If you have the spirit to win, you will."  
  
Cockpit pod #11 opened up and the girl pilot who had beaten Misao appeared. She was 6' tall and had short dirty-blonde hair, gray eyes and wore pilot trainee clothes. The pilot saluted the officer.  
  
"Good work, Ensign Kaori Enoki. You have proved yourself yet again."  
  
"Sir. Yes sir."  
  
The officer saluted again and walked out of the room. Kaori and Misao lowered their arms, and Kaori glanced over at Misao.  
  
"You're pathetic. You call yourself a pilot."  
  
Misao looked up at her. "I'll prove that I'm a pilot. I challenge you another simulation tomorrow."  
  
"Fine by me. It can't hurt my record by winning another one." Koari walked out of the training room and left Misao to his thoughts.  
  
Misao sat down on the floor and stared blankly on the ground.  
  
'What have I done? She is so much better than me.'  
  
A janitor walked in while he carried his mop and bucket. He looked down at Misao and gave a sympathetic look. The janitor crouched down while he laid his mop down.  
  
"What's the matter, cadet?"  
  
Misao looked at him seeing the traditional, light blue, custodial uniform on him with a blue hat and had an ID tag on his right pocket. The name said John Nash. He also looked at the janitor's face and saw they had aqua blue eyes with some brown hair that popped out of the hat.  
  
'Great even a janitor has sympathy for me...'  
  
"You going to answer me or do I have to salute?"  
  
"Um.... Saluting won't be necessary. My mind trailed for a second."  
  
"Ok. What's the matter, then?"  
  
"Well, I challenged another cadet to a simulation match."  
  
"What's wrong with that?"  
  
"I got beaten by her today, pretty badly as well."  
  
"Oh, so you were the one I just watched a few minutes ago."  
  
"Watched?"  
  
"Yeah. There is a monitor in the control room that I watched as I was cleaning the floor there."  
  
"Great. You saw me get humiliated."  
  
"I wouldn't say that. It was a good tactic that you tried, but you were too jumpy for it."  
  
"Huh? You're the first one that has even given a positive review.... I wish I could get more."  
  
"With that negative attitude, how do you expect to win?"  
  
John Nash stood up and picked up his mop. He turned to walk out the door, but stopped just short of the door.  
  
"Ensign Misao Okita. She isn't as good as she thinks. You can beat her quite easily."  
  
Misao had a look of shock on his face as he heard the statement from the janitor. He rose out of confusion and looked straight at him. Misao just now realized the janitor was about 6'2" tall. He shook his head and came back to reality.  
  
"What do you mean? Easily?"  
  
"I saw your match, remember? Well, she has a flaw in her technique and I suggest you use it against her."  
  
John Nash walked out the door and turns the corner, but stuck his head back into the doorway.  
  
"Ever hear of a tactic called 'Divide and Conquer'?"  
  
Date: 21, 5, AC-199  
  
Time: 10:00AM  
  
The Arizona landscape looked as vibrant as ever with many huge rock plateaus and a seemingly endless desert below it. Only cacti disrupted the desolateness of the setting along with a Taurus that flew up in the sky. The Taurus mobile suit continued to move onward and tried to pick up its Leo opponent on radar. Kaori became irritated as she looked at the desert and plateaus below as nothing appeared on her radar or scanners.  
  
"I wish he would come out and fight like a man."  
  
She had the Taurus lower its altitude, and leveled off at one hundred feet above the ground. The Taurus' camera picked up a plateau it was approaching at fast speed. Suddenly, a dust cloud appeared at the base of the plateau, and Kaori had a smile on her face at the sight of it. The Taurus grinded to a halt and it hovered above the dust cloud. It fired its beam rifle toward the dust cloud; it fired a total of five shots. The Taurus descended downward and landed by the dust cloud. Kaori also noticed several patches of disturbed desert soil by her mobile suit, but thought that the dust cloud had done that initially.  
  
'The fool shouldn't have tried using the plateau.'  
  
The Taurus fired another shot into the dust cloud right where Kaori thought that the Leo was.  
  
"I win." Kaori chuckled.  
  
The dust cloud dispersed and to Kaori's surprise there wasn't a scrap pile of a Leo in sight. The desert soil rose up behind her and the Misao's Leo jumped out as it fired its rifle at the Taurus. The rifle's bullets nailed the Taurus in the rear torso area and sent the Taurus to the desert floor.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cockpit pods #10 and #11 opened up. Misao walked out of the pod with gladness in his heart and a smile on his face, as he knew that he had beaten the best cadet. Koari on the other hand had the look of being extremely pissed off almost to the degree of killing someone. An officer walked into the room both cadets saluted to respect their superior.  
  
"I'm impressed, Ensign Misao Otaki. That was a brilliant plan. I hope to see that out of you more often."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Ensign Kaori Enoki, you did well, too. Let this be a lesson, and you should do better next time."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Good job to both of you. Good day." The officer walked out of the room.  
  
Both Ensigns walked out of the room shortly afterward and proceeded down the hall together. John Nash mopped the hall and headed toward the two from the opposition direction.  
  
"How did you do it?" Kaori grumbled.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Beat me." Kaori tried to hold back her anger.  
  
"Oh yeah, well I simply used a decoy maneuver when you got in range of my radar."  
  
"I could tell that, but how did you know to use it at that spot and no where else?"  
  
Meanwhile, they came up on John while he mopped and he looked up; he nodded his head on a job well done. The two passed him and he continued to mop.  
  
"Well, I got inspiration from Napoleon."  
  
"The real reason!"  
  
Kaori and Misao stopped in the hallway as John Nash entered the training room as he continued to mop.  
  
"You shouldn't have been able to pull off a move like that, unless you had help. Spill it. Who told you!"  
  
"Um…."  
  
"Was it the officer?"  
  
"No...."  
  
"Was it one of the simulation operators?"  
  
"No…."  
  
"Who was it?"  
  
"The janitor that just passed us."  
  
Kaori turned around and didn't see the janitor anymore. She looked back at Misao.  
  
"You mean a janitor, that has no combat experience, told you something and you acted on it?"  
  
"That is correct."  
  
Kaori backed up a little bit and was extremely angry, but didn't want to make herself out to be a fool at the same time.  
  
"Ok, I want to meet this janitor. Who is he?"  
  
"His name is John Nash." Misao was not about to protect his new friend. Especially with how Kaori responded to things she didn't like. One cadet was lucky to be alive after he pulled a prank on her. "Shoot its almost class time." Misao laughed, but was practically frightened at what Kaori might have done otherwise.  
  
"That's right. I forgot about class."  
  
The two of them ran off toward classroom section of the complex. The simulation training room door opened as John walked out while he mopped away. He looked up to see both of the cadets as they ran and shook his head while he continued to mop.  
  
**Several minutes later**  
  
Classroom 221 was in a furry of activity as word of Misao's victory had spread through the ranks of the facility. Misao stood near the back as he tried to act naturally about it, but some of the other cadets mobbed him for questions of how he beat Kaori.  
  
"How did you do it?" "Did you catch her off guard?" "How'd you win against Kaori?"  
  
These questions blurred in Misao's mind and he glanced over at Koari, who gave a death glare. Misao knew that if he told them an ordinary janitor showed the way, he and Koari would have been in humiliation. So he gave the most blunt answer he could.  
  
"Just luck I guess."  
  
The professor walked into the room and grabbed the class' attention by a shout. The cadets dispersed to their assigned positions and left Misao near the back of the room along with Kaori by him. Misao looked at her again, but to his dismay she still gave the death glare. In his mind, the answer he gave to the others was inadequate to Koari, but he couldn't take it back. Misao walked over to his seat, which happened to be right next to Kaori. Kaori sat down promptly as well, but still gave a death glare to Misao. She finally let go of the look and glanced over at the person next to her. The cadet next to her typed on his laptop computer, and hadn't paid attention to his surroundings.  
  
'Figures. Only Toki would be uninterested in what happened earlier. Does he ever get off that laptop?'  
  
Toki's gray hair shined from the glow of the laptop, with his blue eyes that reflected the screen in front of him. He wore a red cadet suit, which only meant that he was a technician trainee. He only came to the class, because he needed to know how pilots reacted to various conditions of mobile suits.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Several minutes after class ended, Toki sat at table #10 in the academic library in the facility, but he wasn't alone. Koari and Misao hid at a table behind him, while they observed him and talked at the same time.  
  
"Will you give it a rest already?".  
  
"Not until I know how he figured that out."  
  
"You're hopeless and stubborn."  
  
"I might be, but I wouldn't be saying that if I were you." Kaori gave another glare at him.  
  
"Gotcha." Misao smiled out of fear for his life.  
  
Kaori rose out of her chair and walked over to Toki's table. Misao frantically got up and followed her. Each one picked a side, and kind of surrounded Toki to prevent him from any attempt at escape.  
  
"Toki Watari."  
  
"What do you want? It better be important."  
  
"Well...."  
  
"I want you to look up something for me." Kaori continued. "I have a vendetta against someone, and I want to find out what could have driven him to tell wonder boy here how to beat me."  
  
Toki looked at Kaori's face; "Misao beat you in a simulation? You're kidding, right?"  
  
"No, she isn't." Misao turned away.  
  
Toki was about to burst out in laughter, when he saw Kaori's eyes as it glared at him. He decided not to laugh, and turned back to his laptop.  
  
"Ok. Who is this guy? What is his profession?"  
  
"John Nash and he is a janitor."  
  
Toki heard the statement and hesitated for a moment. 'A janitor?' He entered it as he thought that he might have heard it right. He scanned the facility's directory and a dossier of John Nash popped up. Toki looked at the screen for a second and shook his head.  
  
"Well, here is John Nash."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Employee: John M. Nash  
  
Job: Custodian  
  
Employer: Preventors Corps  
  
Bios: Sex: Male  
  
Height: 6'2"  
  
Weight: 150lbs  
  
Eye Color: Aqua Blue  
  
Hair Color: Brown  
  
Blood Type: AB  
  
Age: 19  
  
Employment History:  
  
New Edwards Military Base  
  
AC-194 - AC-196  
  
Phoenix Military Base  
  
AC-196 - AC-198  
  
Preventor Combat Training Facility- San Jose  
  
AC-198 -   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kaori looked at the data for little bit, and then a picture loaded of John Nash.  
  
"That's him."  
  
"Well, he might have simply overheard mobile suit pilots talking to one another."  
  
"I hate to say it, but it looks like a fluke on his part." Kaori backed off from the two.  
  
"Could be... except how does a fourteen year old become a janitor at military base?" Toki had a suspicious look on his face.  
  
All three look at the screen, and nodded their heads.  
  
"I think we need to keep an eye on this guy." Toki thought they had a conspiracy on their hands. 


	3. A Cadet's Eye

*Disclaimer* I don't own the rights to Gundam Wing. Don't use for profit or anything. Hmm... that one dude I got yesterday, man he was annoying sniping the engineers before they could plant dynomite. I swear, if had left me alone during the game he would have been just peachy, but no no he had to snipe and kill me. I stalked and owned him 3 times within the same game. Snipers usually don't get me mad, but he was the exception.... Oh sorry about that, I get so emotional with my gaming. I'm done now.  
  
Chapter 2- A Cadet's Eye  
  
John Nash walked up to a mechanical sliding door as he held onto his mop. To the right of the door there was a palm reader. John put his hand on it, and a laser scanned his palm. The door slid open, and John walked in as the door shut behind him. John saw a custodial locker room and another janitor; middle-aged, slightly balding, black mustache, and moderately fat; as he suited up.  
  
"Hey Larry." John walked over to his locker.  
  
"What's up, John?"  
  
"End of my shift." John began to take of his custodial suit.  
  
"Ah yes. Mine begins right now." Larry buttoned up the last part of his suit. "Anything happen?" John still had a white t-shirt on as he took off the upper part of his suit.  
  
"That ensign... um... Misao, I think that's his name... Beat the best cadet today." John slid on a black shirt.  
  
"Kaori was beaten?" Larry chuckled. "She can't be beaten that easily. Must have been someone else."  
  
"I'm telling ya, that is what happened." John began to put on his jeans.  
  
"Sure, John. Sure." Larry opened the sliding door. "You have a good night, I'll see you in the morning."  
  
"You too." John took out his brown jacket and slid it on. "Man this has been an interesting day." John realized his hat was still on and took it off. His hair was moderately short with some longer hairs near the front of his head.  
  
John proceeded to the door, but halted in mid-stride. He turned around and walked back to his locker; he opened it up and grabbed his wallet. He shut the locker while he put a lock on it, and returned back to the sliding door. The door slowly opened up, and John took a couple of strides as he walked out into the hallway. The door shut behind him, and he slipped his wallet into his pocket. He walked down the hall, until he came in sight of the west section's exit and security desk with a guard that leaned in his chair while he read a magazine. The guard lowered his magazine to look at the person about to pass by.  
  
"Have a good night, John."  
  
"You too. Ken." John waved.  
  
"That's officer Ken to you." The guard brought his magazine back up.  
  
John rolled his eyes. "Alright, officer Ken."  
  
The glass doors opened and John walked outside, but as the doors began to shut three shadows darted across the hallway and went outside. Neither John nor the guard noticed them, and John continued to walk on to his living quarters.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
John passed several military checkpoints along the way, and he waved at every guard at the checkpoint. While he walked toward his house, John turned his head back as he had the feeling someone was following him, but no one was there. Eventually, John got to an apartment complex at the edge of the exterior of the facility. He walked into a small hallway with a single room while he glanced over at the stairs, and let out a big sigh.  
  
'Why did I have to get an apartment on the top floor?' John let out another big sigh and began to walk up six flights of stairs.  
  
After he started up the stairs, Kaori, Misao, and Toki walked into the apartment complex and saw John as he walked up the stairs. Misao was out of breath, along with Toki, and they gasped for air.  
  
"Why did we have to run so fast anyway? I mean, the guard wouldn't have minded if we just walked out." Misao demanded with a nod from Toki.  
  
"To keep John from seeing us." Kaori smiled.  
  
Misao and Toki looked at her for a moment and shook their heads. "What do you want to do now?" Toki got his breath back.  
  
"Misao will go up there and talk to him. We'll watch for anything suspicious outside." She grabbed Toki by the shoulder.  
  
"Why me!"  
  
"You got us into this, Misao. Naturally, you should go in there yourself." Kaori smirked. "Don't worry though, we'll watch from the porch."  
  
Misao and Toki gave her an odd look. "How are we going to do that?" Toki backed off, as he feared what the answer might be.  
  
"Climb." Toki's face turned pale at the thought, but Kaori dragged him away.  
  
'I feel sorry for him, now. Here I thought I had the tough assignment...'  
  
Misao reluctantly walked up the stairs. As he walked up the stairs one thought came to mind, he did not want to have the wrath of Kaori on his head. He spotted John as he got off at the sixth floor and picked up the pace. He walked up the stairs and skipped every other step; though it looked weird, this process used minimal energy while in use. Misao reached the sixth floor and looked around to spot John. He had no such luck. There were two hallways that lead away on both of his sides. 'This isn't going to be fun.' Misao opened a door to one hallway and didn't catch sight of John. He immediately ran to the other hallway, and just glimpsed John as he entered his apartment. Misao calmly entered the hallway and proceeded to John's door. He walked up to the door and raised his hand to knock on it. Misao hesitated after he looked at the number 613E on the door and left his hand to dangle in mid-air. He just couldn't move his hand to knock on the door. The thought of how this man made a difference in his performance went through his mind, and that thought blocked his ability to knock on the door. His arm fell freely to his side, and he let a big sigh.  
  
Misao turned away from the door while the door opened. "I just can't do it."  
  
"Can't do what?" Misao saw John in the doorway. John noticed a little bit of distress in Misao. "If you wanted to come in, you should have knocked."  
  
"I can't go in. I don't belong here."  
  
"How about something to drink? That should cheer you up." John waved his hand to allow Misao inside.  
  
Misao perked up a little and walked into the apartment. As Misao walked past him, John closed the door behind Misao. John headed into the kitchen, while Misao walked into the living room, and was in shock at what he saw. Two renaissance style swords lay crossed above the couch on the west wall. A 1933 Springfield rifle lay on a shelf to the right of the swords. Several portraits hung on the wall from the time of World War II.  
  
'Is this guy a military otaku?'  
  
He glanced over at the porch and saw Kaori and Toki by the glass. Misao waved a little to get them to hide; all the while he kept an eye on the kitchen area.  
  
"Interesting isn't it?" John said from the kitchen as the refrigerator door slammed shut.  
  
"Nothing is..." Misao tried not look at anything especially the porch.  
  
"Nice try, but anyone who walks in here notices that stuff the first time around."  
  
Misao gave in. "Alright, its interesting, but I didn't realize you were into military stuff that much."  
  
"I'm not. That's my father's collection."  
  
"Why do you hang onto this collection, then?" Misao looked at the swords with confusion.  
  
John walked out of the kitchen and carried two glasses of orange juice. He handed one to Misao. "It brings back the memories of my father."  
  
"Oh... I didn't realize...." Misao held the glass up to his lips.  
  
John looked at the two swords. "No one knows. I didn't get along with him very well, but he still was my father."  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
"The shuttle he was on was shot down by a Leo mobile suit." Misao eyes grew wide. "That was right before those Gundams were sent to earth."  
  
"I'm surprised you don't hate mobile suits because of... that...." Misao sat down on the couch by the west wall.  
  
"Nah. I realize that I shouldn't hate things that easily." John sat in a chair that faced the couch.  
  
"That doesn't make much sense."  
  
"Consider this. When a spider catches an insect and eats it, do the other insects hate it or no?"  
  
"When its time... you just let it go."  
  
"Exactly. No point to hating something, except you can avenge. Even then, you need a good reason."  
  
"You have a point...." Misao a thought came to his mind. "May I ask? Why did you help me?"  
  
John raised an eyebrow and put his juice down. "Which time? The juice or earlier today?"  
  
"Earlier."  
  
"Oh yes, well you see...." John got up and proceeded toward his porch window. Misao panicked a little, but couldn't say anything. John saw a flash of lightning outside and dark clouds rolled in. "Looks like a storm is rolling in. You better tell your friends to come in here."  
  
Misao's jaw dropped at what John said. "How...!"  
  
John opened the porch door and looked outside while he saw no one but a few fingers that held onto the edge. John looked over the edge and saw Kaori and Toki as tried to hide, but at six floors up that is impossible.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hi." Toki had a grim smile on him.  
  
"Fancy meeting you here." Kaori had a hesitated smile.  
  
"I advise you to come in, else you might wind up in a much worse place." John lowered his hand down.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kaori, Toki, and Misao sat on the couch in John's apartment. They held glasses of various juices, and each looked at John, who was in his chair.  
  
"Alright. Now that you guys are in here, may I ask? Why did you follow me?"  
  
"To... um..." Misao tried to spit out.  
  
"Find out why and how you help this cadet here beat me!"  
  
"That's all?" John raised an eyebrow. "You mean you could have just walked up to me, and simply asked yourself. Instead of dragging these two with you."  
  
Toki and Misao looked at Kaori for a moment and gave her disappointed looks. "Now that we are here. Could you tell us, anyway?"  
  
John looked over at the porch, and saw buckets of water pour outside. Occasionally, a lightning flashed and showed how truly dark it was outside.  
  
John looked back at them. "Two reasons. One, I had pity on Misao for not being able to beat a single opponent. Second, no one can have a perfect record forever. It was better for you to learn how it is to lose early on."  
  
Misao couldn't speak a word, along with Kaori, after the response. "So you wanted both to gain from the experience? Wow, here I thought you did it just for Misao."  
  
"It's surprising what losing a battle can teach you. Every great general in history lost a least one battle...." John looked at one of the portraits. "That's what my father said anyway."  
  
Kaori got a hold of herself. "What about the dates of your employment?" Toki and Misao coveed her mouth really quickly after she spoke the question.  
  
"Don't mind her." Misao said hastily.  
  
"She doesn't know what she is talking about."  
  
John looked Toki straight in the eye. "Thought so." Toki and Misao lowered their hands.  
  
"Thought so.... What?"  
  
"You took a look at my background, I'm assuming?" John got no response. "Well if you want to know, Larry Saylor is the reason I got those jobs. He was a friend of my father, and took me in after my father was killed."  
  
"But a fourteen-year-old working as a janitor on a military base?" Toki was in disbelief.  
  
"That is correct. I worked whether he did. As long as I did my job, there was no problem." John smiled happily.  
  
The trio sat silently for the next few minutes after he spoke. They knew of Larry Saylor, the jolly, fat janitor that worked night shifts, and the fact that if any problems arose that involved anything, except political or combat situations, that Larry was the guy to talk to. Misao rose from his seat and walked over to John.  
  
"I'm sorry to cause any troubles for ya."  
  
"Its ok. I don't get much company over, aside from Larry, but you know he works night shifts." John stood up and walked over to the front door.  
  
"Where are you going?" Toki and Kaori got up and watched him.  
  
John walked over to the closet next to the front door and opened it up. He grabbed some umbrellas and tossed one to each cadet.  
  
"Your check-in time is in an hour. If you go now, you'll have more than enough time, but if you don't'.... Well...."  
  
"We know."  
  
John opened up the front door and the three cadets walked out, Misao was the last. Misao stopped right outside the door and turned around to face John.  
  
"Thank you for the umbrellas and the drinks."  
  
"No problem, and if you want to come back, you are always welcome. Kaori and Toki as well."  
  
The three of them nodded and walked away. John shut his door again and breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
'I think those three will leave me alone now.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
**Later that night**  
  
The dormitory was pitch black with no movement except for an occasional flicker of light. The sound was still as can be, and it was a peaceful night. A soft tapping sound came from the hallway like that of a person's foot, a figure formed in the darkness and walked toward by library. A low powered light hit the figure as she walked and Kaori was seen in her military issued pajamas. She looked a little out of it, but came from the bathroom. She stopped for a moment and took a look into the library after she noticed the light had originated there. Kaori walked in and saw that the light had come from a laptop.  
  
"Toki. I'm surprised to see you up this late." Kaori said in a quiet tone once she got to Toki.  
  
"Well some nights I don't care for sleep. Besides, there was something I wanted to check on after we met earlier, but couldn't do it while everyone was awake."  
  
"What might that might that be? Hacking the computers to change grades and evaluations?"  
  
"None of the above." Toki gave Kaori a glare at her words. "What you are thinking of is called 'cracking', not hacking. Hackers are people who merely look, and don't do anything with the stuff. Crackers get in and destroy. The media gets the terms mixed up a lot."  
  
"Oh... um... anyway, what did you want to look at anyway?"  
  
"This." Toki pointed at the screen where he had software with code that flew past. "Normally encryptions only take... about a minute at most to get through on this software, but this is taking awhile to get through this encryption."  
  
"How long has it been?"  
  
"About thirty minutes." Kaori looked at him strangely. "This Preventor encryption is extremely good."  
  
"I guess so..." Kaori crouched down. "Hold on, where did you find this thing anyway?"  
  
"The software... is classified." Toki's eyes looked to his left and his right.  
  
"I meant the place your trying to get through."  
  
"Oh, it was a hidden link under the employee section on this facility's site, about twenty pages buried. When I tried the link, well I got an official blocker."  
  
Kaori looked at him and shook her head. "Enough. You win." She turned around and began to walk away.  
  
Toki smiled happily to almost laughter. "Bingo."  
  
Kaori turned her head. "Get through? If so, what's on there?"  
  
Several windows popped on Toki's laptop and he began to sift through the mess. He rifled through the transactions of mobile suit sales and smuggler break-ups.  
  
"Looks like nothing more than a detailed account of the past year or so. Which bothers me."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"The encryption on this thing isn't meant for this type of classification. There has to be something more." Toki glimpsed something on one of the pages referred to the gundams. He clicked on the page and began to look up information about Trowa Barton. He glanced over the page until he saw the word deceased and his eyes grew with fear. "What the...."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
During the incident at L4W-77321 colony, the new mobile suit type called BlitzWavine destroyed Heavyarms Kai. The pilot Trowa Barton was unable to escape and was killed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I thought Trowa had been asked to be assigned to the terraforming project."  
  
"Me too.... Didn't Wufei go to the terraforming project as well?" Toki sifted through the pages and found Wufei's information. "He met the same fate...."  
  
Kaori and Toki looked at each other with fear.  
  
"A cover up?"  
  
"It can't be. Why would they want to cover that up?"  
  
"Keep the peace and not worry the citizens." Kaori shrugged. "Wait... a new mobile suit type?"  
  
Toki rifled through the windows and found a window with two new mobile suit designs on it. The yellow mobile suit caught Kaori's eye with its beam cannon attachment. The black mobile suit caught Toki's eye for its weird design.  
  
"The yellow mobile suit is called Toteis. The black one is called BlitzWavine." Toki raised an eyebrow. "How did that mobile suit possibly beat two gundams?"  
  
"I guess it depends on the pilot."  
  
"Maybe, but not even Oz or White Fang could take a single one out. Yet this mobile suit managed to take two out."  
  
Kaori pointed at the screen. "Look here."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
BlitzWavine during the end of the incident sacrificed itself to stop the battleship called Orion from firing its main cannon. This was done by self-destruction and projection the mobile suit Toteis into the main cannon shortly before it could fire; this sent a chain reaction through the battleship and destroyed it. The pilots of both mobile suits were incinerated.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"That seems odd. Who in their right mind would turn against their allies?"  
  
"Not sure.... his name is... err... was Alex Cros."  
  
"Never heard of him." Kaori bit her lip.  
  
"Here we go."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Subject: Alex Cros  
  
Date of Birth: 11, 01, AC-180  
  
Bio:Sex: Male  
  
Hair Color: Brown  
  
Eye Color: Aqua Blue  
  
Height: 6'0"  
  
Weight: 145lbs  
  
Blood Type: AB  
  
Age: 18  
  
As of 12, 01, AC-198.  
  
Mobile Suits:  
  
Icedig  
  
BlitzWavine  
  
Date of Death: 15, 12, AC-198  
  
*A picture of the pilot displayed*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Well, I guess he isn't that big of a threat anymore." Kaori stretched out.  
  
Toki thought that he had seen the person in that picture before. He started up a picture-analyzing program and inserted the picture of the pilot into it.  
  
Kaori took a look at the screen. "What ya doing?"  
  
"Having the computer analyze any picture in the directory to see if any pictures match."  
  
"Whoa... I'm confused... first they say he is dead... now your saying he might be alive. Let alone the fact that he betrayed our side... and theirs... This isn't making any sense what so ever." Kaori squinted her eyes. "You know what, that almost looks like John."  
  
Toki typed in John's name and had the laptop analyze the picture from the profile. The computer output: 99% match.  
  
Kaori and Toki looked at the screen in disbelief. "99%!" Kaori and Toki yelled in unison. Fortunately, no one was around to hear them.  
  
"Does that mean..."  
  
"We have a psychopath on our hands..."  
  
Toki shut his laptop up and ran with Kaori out of there.  
  
"His story was bullshit. After all." 


	4. Consideration: Battle cry

*Disclaimer* Gundam is copyrighted by the Bandai Co. and should not be used for anything to gain profit from. That's the legal stuff... or maybe I should continue on.... Nah.  
  
Chapter 3- Consideration: Battle cry  
  
Location: San Jose Facility  
  
Cafeteria  
  
Date: 22, 5, AC-199  
  
Breakfast time  
  
John quietly ate a club sandwich, and had a little smile on his face. Larry Saylor walked up behind him and patted John on the back. John practically spat out his food, but somehow managed to hold it in. Larry sat down across the table from John. John managed to swallow his food.  
  
"If you had been a few seconds later, I might have choked." John said with a nervous chuckle.  
  
Larry had his typical jolly smile on him. "Sorry about that. I was just wanted to speak to you real quick before I left for home."  
  
"Fine by me," John took another bite out of the sandwich; the words "What do you want to talk about?" were muffled by the food as John spoke.  
  
"I heard about your run in with those three cadets. I wanted to make sure that ... you know." Larry began to whisper.  
  
"They didn't find out anything." John swallowed his food. "They were merely curious, nothing more."  
  
"That's good to hear, since Lady Une pulled a lot of strings to get you this job. You don't want to go through the mess of gaining a new identity."  
  
"Thanks for your concern. I know she did a lot to get me here, but so did you."  
  
"It's the least I can do. Me and Rio were good friends, he would do the same if it was my brother or son."  
  
John was silent for a moment, "I know, that's why I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I've learned so much about Rio since I got here."  
  
"He was a good man, and you should be proud to have lived with him." Larry looked down at his watch. "Oh yeah, before I forget. Quatre Winner is visiting this facility today at about 1400 hours."  
  
John looked at Larry in a depressive state, and put his hands up to support his head.  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
"He thinks I'm dead. How would you react, if someone you thought was dead was suddenly alive?"  
  
"The others haven't told him?"  
  
"Correct. Lady Une thought it was best to keep the knowledge of me being alive to a very small circle. Quatre isn't in that circle."  
  
"Gotcha. That means you are going to avoid him today, I'm assuming?"  
  
"Exactly." John took another bite out of his sandwich.  
  
Larry got up and began to walk away.  
  
"It's been good talking to you. Enjoy the rest of the day."  
  
John continued to eat what was left of his sandwich. He just hoped that he would be able to completely avoid Quatre today, along with those three cadets if he could.  
  
Misao silently walked up and sat where Larry had sat a few moments ago. John glanced up after he took another bite and saw Misao at the table. John was startled for a second, and pounded his chest with his right hand to make the food go down.  
  
"What brings you here Misao?"  
  
"I was just wanted to tell you something."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"I meant to say this earlier, but I kind of forgot about it. Anyway, thank you so much for helping me out yesterday."  
  
"It was no problem, but I thought you already said that."  
  
"I didn't. Kaori kind of made me forget about it."  
  
"It's alright as long as you said it."  
  
"Did you hear about Quatre Winner, the head of the Winner Corpation, visiting this facility today?"  
  
John ate the rest of his sandwich and tried to be as sincere as possible. "Of course I have."  
  
"You have to see him, I mean when was the last time you saw a head of a corporation?" Misao was all excited.  
  
"I have to clean the hallways, no time to see the guy."  
  
"It would only take a minute of your time."  
  
'Your wrong about a minute; it would only take a few seconds for him to recognize me.'  
  
"Come on, you have to go at that time." Misao almost went into fake tears. "Please?"  
  
"Oh alright, I'll go. Only for a minute though."  
  
Misao had a big smile on his face. "Alright."  
  
John now had to come up with ideas of how to get out of the mess he had just got himself into. Unfortunately, Misao blocked his train of thought.  
  
"I wish they had told us a few days ago, that he was coming. I mean a few hours before he comes isn't letting people enough time to have a facility to be prepared."  
  
"I agree." The words 'I would have had a sick today, if I had known' came to John's mind.  
  
Misao got up and waved at Kaori and Toki as they entered the room. John got up and looked in the direction that Misao had waved. Kaori and Toki lunged under a table at the sight of John about to get up. John gave a perplexed look at Misao.  
  
"Whom were you waving at?"  
  
"I guess... no one."  
  
John shook his head and walked out of the cafeteria.  
  
Once John had walked out of the cafeteria, Toki and Kaori reappeared from under the table.  
  
"That was too close." Toki breathed a little bit fast.  
  
"Agreed. He might have seen us if it weren't for Misao."  
  
Misao was completely confused by the two's action and walked over to them.  
  
"What in the world are you guys doing?"  
  
"Trying not to be spotted by that psychopath."  
  
"Psychopath! John isn't a psychopath."  
  
"We have proof that he has been lying." Toki patted his laptop.  
  
"Everyone lies about something, even the nicest people."  
  
"John isn't John, Misao." Toki and Kaori became furious with Misao when he didn't accept their story.  
  
"If he isn't, then I suppose that makes both of you rulers of the earth?"  
  
"Don't give us that sarcasm."  
  
Misao sat down in a nearby booth, and the other two sat down across from him.  
  
"Show me this proof then."  
  
Toki laid his laptop on the table and opened the data files from the night before. He then turned around the laptop, so that Misao could see it. Misao's eyes grew wide as he read the information.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Time: 1:50PM  
  
Location: Custodian Locker Room  
  
John looked at his closed locker door while he sat on a bench. He didn't have a shirt on, not even the under white t-shirt that he normally wore. For the first time, his back had seen the light of the world outside of a shower. John had done this for good reason, for his back was heavily scarred.  
  
John glanced down at his watch and saw that Quatre should be here any minute. He reached over and opened the locker door. As he stood forward, John grabbed a white t-shirt and put it on. Pain rushed through his body as the garment was put on, and then subsided. He promptly put on the rest of his casual clothes. A blue baseball cap was the last thing John put on before he headed out of the locker room.  
  
Once he left the locker room, John stared right at Toki, Kaori, and Misao as they stood with intimidating looks.  
  
"John, we've been expecting you." Kaori had a devilish smile.  
  
"Now is not a good time." John coughed heavily and covered his mouth with his hand.  
  
"I think it's the right time." Toki snapped.  
  
"You have some explaining to do." Misao tapped his right foot.  
  
"Alright, I'll come out with it." John paused for a minute while the three had stunned faces. "The club sandwiches should never be served with soy sauce."  
  
John grabbed his mouth and then charged through the three of them. He gained distance as he ran down the hall. Toki and Misao stood mystified while Kaori was on the ground from being knocked over by John.  
  
"That jerk!" Kaori stood back up and her voice was full of rage. "After him!"  
  
"It's not necessary." Toki stated and Misao nodded.  
  
"What?" Kaori shouted.  
  
"We know where he lives, besides...."  
  
"We just talk to the director of this place and Mr. Winner about it." Misao continued on Toki's remarks. "Surely, they can handle this matter better than us."  
  
Kaori cooled down and nodded her head after she heard the new option. She glanced down the hall to see if John was still in sight, but he was gone by this time. She let a sigh and walked past Toki and Misao.  
  
"I hope Mr. Winner is on time."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*Thirty Minutes Later*  
  
The city, which was a neighbor to San Francisco and Oakland, had blossomed the years during and after the time the earth-colony conflict took place. In a sense, San Jose replaced the New Edwards base of old and promised to bring mobile suit development to more of helping people rather than fighting other mobile suits. The skyscrapers were of moderate nature, but didn't want to rival those of the New York and San Francisco. The city was relatively clean due to environmental laws passed several decades ago. It was simply a nice city to look at.  
  
John sat atop of a hill that over looked the San Jose area. The San Francisco bay glittered a good distance away, and gave a nice feel to the area. John didn't mind this at all, and even partially stared at the sight. The earth was a nice place, John thought. There was no air conditioning or recycling of the air like that in the colonies. It got stale up there, yet the colonies used to be his home. A cool breeze stirred John as he looked at the city, and partially smiled.  
  
Quatre slowly put his right foot forward followed by his left, as he tried not to get John's attention. He silently walked up to John and stood in such a way that his shadow wasn't cast onto John.  
  
"Quatre, I thought I eluded you."  
  
Quatre looked at John with confusion in his face. He thought the man hadn't seen him approach, let alone who he was.  
  
"How did you know it was me?"  
  
"Only three people that are alive can sneak up on me like that." John said with a smile. "Secondly, your the only one of those three that wears cologne with that brand."  
  
'The breeze gave me away.' Quatre shook his head a little. "Alex, I thought you were dead." Quatre sat down on the grass next to John (Alex).  
  
"I know you thought I was dead. Lady Une didn't tell you, because they weren't sure if it was necessary."  
  
"Yet they told me that Trowa and Wufei were dead." Quatre let out a sigh. "Why shouldn't they just tell me, and not get so much trouble boiled over this."  
  
Alex didn't respond.  
  
"Please tell me why you did those things."  
  
"I don't know why... I wasn't myself."  
  
"I know how that feels. The Zero System made me mad with rage, and I couldn't see clearly."  
  
Alex turned toward Quatre and grimly shook his head.  
  
"I partially remember what happened, but I don't want to remember those memories for they are too painful."  
  
"Memories of what?" Quatre glanced over at Alex, but returned his stare to San Jose.  
  
"I don't want to describe them, let alone say their name." Alex stood up.  
  
"Is there anything you wanted you say, other than that?"  
  
"Quatre, don't try to make me a mobile suit pilot again. I've caused too much pain, being a janitor is fine enough for me."  
  
Quatre stood up and began to walk away, disappointed at his comrade's comments. He stopped in his tracks and looked back at Alex.  
  
"Why did you help that one cadet then?"  
  
"He needed the help. I merely told him how to get there. He should...."  
  
"I mean the real reason."  
  
Alex hesitated. "There is no other reason."  
  
"Don't lie to me like that. I know the real reason. It's the fact that you can't pass up a fight, even if it's a hopeless one. You want to go back to the battlefield, but are afraid that you'll hurt another person." Alex tried to raise his voice, but Quatre continued on. "Heero and Duo know this too well, along with me. Don't give us that old excuse." Quatre stopped his shouting and walked away again.  
  
Alex looked resentful, and didn't move.  
  
"One last thing Quatre," Quatre turned around. "How did you know I was here?"  
  
"I was told about you from three cadets."  
  
Alex sat back on the hill and stretched out his legs. "Why aren't they here? Those three have made a habit of following me lately."  
  
Quatre stood still with a smile on his face. "I told the director of the facility to hold them until I got back. That way no one could interfere with me talking to you."  
  
Alex chuckled at the thought of the three cadets being held against their will on the facility's grounds. His eyes let out little tears; he didn't know what to do next.  
  
"So are you going to come back?" Quatre's left hand pointed at himself and his right arm pointed down toward San Jose. "Or are you just going to watch this city?"  
  
Quatre took a better look at the city below him, and saw a pillar of smoke that came from the downtown area. His eyes opened wide with horror as one of the buildings exploded and he glared down at Alex. Alex was mystified by the sight in front of him, and could only look up at Quatre.  
  
"A mobile suit attack... I'm going down, you are welcome to come with me."  
  
"I refuse to go back to the battlefield, besides you and the Preventors should be able to handle."  
  
Quatre shook his head in disappointment at Alex's words and let a sigh out. He ran away so that he could stop the attack.  
  
Alex looked back at the city with pity in his heart, but didn't want to get involved. The memories, he had been put all his strength to keep away, might come back in horrific force and he simply couldn't handle them. A glimmer of light came from the San Francisco bay caught Alex's eye, and it opened wide.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sandrock sliced through a Leo like a hot knife through butter with one of the heat shotels. The other shotel impaled another Leo through the cockpit, and Sandrock upper cut the Leo, which left two upper parts that swayed a little bit. Both Leos exploded at the same time.  
  
This was Quatre's first battle since he had encountered Alex's mobile suit at Lunar Base. Quatre saw that he needed to get of his rusty combat style, but he just fine otherwise. He continued to think of how Alex responded to his questions earlier. 'Coward' came to his mind first, but he understood that every pilot needed to get over this fear, even if it took years. Quatre had Sandrock slice through another Leo, while he tried not to think of the pilot in the mobile suit. Any thought that came to his mind had to be on this battle, and nothing else.  
  
Quatre looked around and saw Preventor Leos engaged in battle, and were pushing back what remained of the attacking force. He practically heard the men as they cheered from the mobile suits without the use of communication links. Quatre smiled a little, but the smile was cut short, as a volley of missiles flew past Sandrock and wiped out several Preventor Leos.  
  
Quatre didn't know what to think, but came up with one conclusion. "No Leo can carry that kind of firepower. The situation has just gotten more dire."  
  
Sandrock stepped out into the open and its cameras were filled with images of missiles were headed toward it. Sandrock thrusted back behind a building, and could only watch as the missiles laid waste to several buildings. Quatre tried to think of a way to face the new enemy, but before he could make a move, another volley of missiles blew up on the street where he was about to make his move.  
  
"This guy has me figured out... and pinned." Quatre breathed a little roughly, but calmed down to think of another plan.  
  
Sandrock jetted off to get behind another building, and just as it got into the open, two volleys of missiles crashed into more buildings, and leveled them. Sandrock was now in the open and had no cover. The thick smoke around him was only pierced by the glowing heat shotels.  
  
'This is bad.'  
  
Quatre couldn't move Sandrock for fear of another attack of missiles, but at the same time he couldn't just stand there. To his amazement, the missiles didn't come while the smoke was thick. The smoke dissipated to a large degree but left the air murky and very uncomfortable to breathe, let alone see through. Quatre saw an image of a blue mobile suit about a block away from his position, but couldn't make it out anymore since the smoke had messed up the view.  
  
"Trowa... It can't be."  
  
A bright light resonated from upper part of the mobile suit, and this meant more missiles. Sandrock activated its thrusters and flew backwards to avoid the missiles. Just as he got back far enough though, something happened to the left of Sandrock and the cameras picked up small remnants of explosions. A blue mobile suit was seen in Sandrock's cameras, but was much clearer than the first one.  
  
This blue mobile suit stood 16.3m tall. It had only one camera lens in its head, and the head itself had a rounded slope, which came to a sphere point near the camera lens; there was also two straight antennas mounted on the rear of the head. The area that held the camera lens was jagged, which made the face look demon-like. The main body frame was much like that of a Virgo, except it lacked a beam cannon and had two spheroid shoulders. The shoulders had small circle hatches, which stored missiles. The feet of this mobile suit were also very similar to that of the gundams. At first glance, this blue mobile suit appeared to have mobility issues much like the Virgo, except it had thrusters on its back, arms, legs, and very small ones in its shoulders to counter the mobility issue.  
  
The pilot of this mobile suit looked in frustration that his missiles had been shot down. He had Sandrock owned, but something got in the way and that was unacceptable. His red eyes seemed to almost burn with anger at the sight of Sandrock as well, and his short blonde hair dripped with sweat.  
  
"No one will stop me. I must avenge my family!"  
  
Sandrock prepared to charge at this new mobile suit, but a Preventor Leo ran in between the two mobile suits and was seemingly on guard of Sandrock. This fearless Leo pilot surprised both pilots. Quatre's response to this action was to try to get the mobile suit out of there.  
  
A message flashed up on his screen before he could do anything.  
  
Mr. Winner  
  
Fallback with the other Preventor Leos, and I will cover you guys.  
  
Please do as I ask.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Liet. John Henderson  
  
Quatre wondered what this man was thinking, but he doesn't deny he needed the break. Sandrock backed off and disappeared amongst the buildings that had yet to collapse.  
  
The pilot of the blue mobile suit fired a volley of missiles toward where Sandrock fell back. He saw the missiles approach the area, and then watched one after one explode in mid-air except for one that crashed into the ground. The blue mobile suit looked back at the Leo and saw its back turned to the blue mobile suit along with its Leo rifle with fresh smoke that fumed out.  
  
"How dare you stop me!" The pilot opened a communication link, but got static. This action made him even more pissed off.  
  
The Leo turned around to face the new mobile suit and began to open fire on it.  
  
The blonde haired pilot laughed at the foolhardy Leo as the bullets bounced off of its armor. The blue mobile suit reached to its torso area and pulled out an unignited beam saber.  
  
"I don't waste anymore of my missiles on you. Prepare to die."  
  
The blue mobile suit ignited its beam saber and at lightning speed charged at the Leo. It took a downward swipe at the Leo. The Leo barely dodged the attack with use of its rear support thrusters to spin to the right. The Leo fired more shots at the blue mobile suit, but the bullets bounced off the armor. Opportunity knocked for the blue mobile suit; the blonde pilot did a slight, quick slice at the Leo. The rifle fell into two pieces and exploded. The Leo flew backward to take cover. The red-eyed pilot smiled to his amusement as the Leo flew backward, and fired a set of front missiles at the Leo. In desperation, the Leo spun dodged to the left and right to no avail as the missiles made contact with its legs. The Leo uncontrollably smashed into buildings, and crashed out of sight of the blue mobile suit.  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
With satisfaction, the blue mobile suit made its way toward the downed Leo. The pilot looked down at the Leo with a smirk on his face, but the smirk went away when he saw the cockpit door already opened with no trace of the pilot in sight.  
  
"Damnit."  
  
The blue mobile suit smashed the cockpit area with its right foot and the Leo exploded.  
  
"I wanted to kill that pilot for interfering. Oh well." The pilot chuckled a little bit. "I better get rid of that gundam now."  
  
A communication link popped up on the pilot's screen and a female officer was on the other.  
  
"Orza you have to pull back immediately."  
  
"Why should I? I have them on the run." Orza looked further down the street and didn't make eye contact with her.  
  
"You have lost the element of surprise and their defenses will be stronger further on. We can't risk losing you and Flugtod here."  
  
"This is a golden opportunity, I can't just let one of those scumbags get away."  
  
"I know you can't, but you'll get the chance again."  
  
"I'm taking him out now and I'm not going to listen to you."  
  
"These orders came from Eizo."  
  
Orza looked her straight in the eyes with a lot of resentment.  
  
"Affirmative, I'm pulling back."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quatre surveyed the remnants of one of the Leos that lay on the streets of San Jose. He breathed a sigh as he recognized it as being the Leo that came to save him. Most of the mobile suit was intact, but aside from the burnt marks was the crushed cockpit.  
  
'I guess Liet. Henderson didn't make it. I should have been there.'  
  
Rescure workers moved around him as they tried to put out fires that had sprung up nearby, and Preventor salvagers began preparation to take the Leo back with them. Quatre lowered himself down to the street below and began to walk out of the area. A Preventor pilot stopped him before he got too far.  
  
"Your the pilot of the gundam that fought today, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, what do you want?"  
  
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to assist you in the battle today."  
  
"It's alright."  
  
"I would have been in the battle, but the thing is that a janitor from the Preventor Combat Training Facility knocked me out just as I was suiting up."  
  
"What..." Quatre stopped in mid-sentence. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm Liet. John Henderson."  
  
"A janitor you say...." Quatre smiled a little. "I think it was for the best, Liet."  
  
"But..."  
  
"I have business to attend to. Don't worry about anything."  
  
Quatre causally walked away from the pilot, who simply wasn't able to think of anything to say to him.  
  
'I should have seen it. The evidence was right in front of me.' Quatre smiled while he shook his head. 'I need to find him then.' 


	5. Soaked Through and Through

*Disclaimer* Blah. This is the legal stuff. Bandai owns the Gundam name, I don't.  
  
Chapter 4- Soaked Through and Through  
  
Location: San Francisco, California  
  
Date: 22, 5, AC-199  
  
Time: 10:00PM  
  
Alex quietly sat on a barstool as he awaited his order, music and dancing roared behind him with loud clamor. The strobe lights around him made every nauseating to look at, but Alex hardly looked around him as he kept his eyes on the bar surface below him.  
  
He wasn't in a good mood from events that had occurred earlier, and a lot of thoughts ran through his head. 'Well, I have no job now.' 'I broke a promise to myself not to fight again.' 'Where is that bloody drink?' Alex just seemed to keep himself on that order, so he didn't pay attention to his environment.  
  
A black-short-haired, middle-aged man came up and sat in a barstool to the right of Alex.  
  
"An order of brandy."  
  
"Coming right up."  
  
Alex heard the man and turned his head to look. The man seemed about the same height as him, just couldn't tell since Alex was leaning forward. This person wore military fatigues on everything, from his coat down to his boots. The man finally looked over at Alex just to see what the kid was looking at. The man had emerald eyes that seem to be cold, emotionless, and dead to Alex, but then again his eyes were the about same way at the moment. This man also noticed a glass filled with soda in front of Alex, that Alex didn't seem to notice.  
  
"What you looking at kid?" The man showed no emotion in face or tone.  
  
Alex turned his head to look at the bar again as the bartender delivered the man's drink. "I'm waiting for my Pepsi to get served."  
  
The man felt some sort of sympathy; he reached over and pushed the glass closer to Alex. "It is right in front of you."  
  
Alex stared at the glass for a moment. "Now, I know I'm having a bad day."  
  
He pushed the glass aside and laid his head on the bar's surface with head facing the man. Alex was out right depressed from everything that had happened today, and now the glass being in front of him was the last straw.  
  
The man sipped some of his brandy down in a shot glass, while kept one eye on the teen next to him. He put his glass down and wiped his mouth off with a black handkerchief, which he did without anyone really noticing speed of which the handkerchief had been taken out and put away.  
  
"What is ailing you?" The man said as he poured some brandy in his shot glass.  
  
Alex looked at the man for a second and wanted to not reply, but the words "A promise I made to myself" came out anyway.  
  
"A promise?" The man continued to not stress a single word.  
  
"I broke it... now I can't continue on with my current life...." The man forced the shot down in one gulp.  
  
"It can't be that bad." The man turned his head to look at Alex. "Not as bad what happened to me 24 years ago."  
  
Alex raised himself off the bar surface and grabbed his pop. The man had caught his interest; maybe it would a good story to cheer himself up.  
  
"Have you heard of Heero Yuy?"  
  
Alex nodded and sipped some of his Pepsi.  
  
"I'm not talking about the code named, gundam pilot. I'm referring to the leader that was assassinated 24 years ago." The man snapped at Alex, but had pulled it back once he realized what he had said.  
  
"Oh, I forgot about him."  
  
"Most people have. With Relena talking about peace nowadays, it is more than likely the rest will forget about him and the price he paid." He had some anger in his voice, but didn't let Alex onto it.  
  
"What has made you not forget about him?"  
  
"I used to be his bodyguard, top of the line at the time." Alex's eyes opened wide. "I happened to be out sick the day that he was... killed. I haven't forgiven myself since."  
  
Alex almost let his jaw drop. This man has had a more troubled life than him, so why was he here calm as a bell and Alex wasn't. Quatre was right after all, he was simply running away from his problems, but Alex still didn't want to completely admit it yet.  
  
"I'm sorry to have made you more troubled by the facts, but if I had been there that day... maybe what has happened wouldn't have happened." The man downed another shot of brandy.  
  
"I don't know about that. More than likely, both of you would have been killed and you wouldn't be standing here talking to me." Alex cracked a grim smile on his face.  
  
"You might be right about that kid." The man rested his glass on the bar. "Anyways, the name is Diel Wints."  
  
"Alex ... Henderson." Alex reached up to shake Diel's hand.  
  
Diel shook Alex's hand. "Alright, 'Henderson'." Diel got up, "See around kid." He walked away and vanished into the crowd.  
  
'Odd guy,' Alex thought.  
  
Alex turned around to see the bartender.  
  
"Is that guy a regular?"  
  
"He comes in once a month, and puts everything on a tab." The bartender grumbled. "I need to remind myself to get him to pay that tab."  
  
"You know anything about him?"  
  
"Aside from him being a nut in the head, and sending chills down everyone's backs. Nope."  
  
"Um... thanks I guess...."  
  
Alex walked away from the bar and started to find a seat in the club. He got bumped by some of the dancers, and was lucky that his drink didn't spill. As he continued, he found a seat near the rear exit of the club and sat down. He sipped his pop and watched the dancing that went on. He was perplexed by these actions these people were doing; there was no use for it in his mind. A complete waste of energy, but one thought came to his mind. 'To each their own.'  
  
He sat for several minutes until he heard a noise from the other side of door he was near. It sounded like a car backfiring.  
  
'Why would a car be back there?'  
  
Alex got up and walked to the door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Time: 11:30PM  
  
Alex stood in the back alley way behind the club and had a look of horror on his face as he stared at the bartender lying on the ground with a bullet hole in his chest. He had heard a noise that he thought was a car backfiring from back here, but never thought that he had heard a gun being fired. Thoughts raced through his head of what happened and what to do. He couldn't move, out of some sort of fear, yet the fear was unknown. Rain started to pour down on him.  
  
A siren started to roar as a police car pulled into the back alley after a message had come in over the radio. The lights on the car practically turned the night into day as they approached; the light showed how intense the rainfall was. Alex turned to look at the car as the police stopped. Two officiers stepped out and left their doors open.  
  
Alex raised his hands into the air as his hair dripped with rain. "I swear I didn't do it."  
  
One of the cops walked up in front of the car and showed he has nothing in his hands. "Don't worry we aren't here to arrest you. We want to know what happened...."  
  
A crack of thunder reined out as the cop stood with his hands out. The arms limply fell to his sides and the cop collapsed to the rain soaked ground. In the dim light, Alex couldn't see where the cop got killed at, but lowered his hands and backed away from the cops. The other cop pulled out his pistol and ducked behind the open door on his side of the car. The cop reached into the car and grabbed his radio.  
  
"Officer down, I repeat officer down. I need backup now." The officer glanced through the mirror and saw Alex as he backed away. "Damnit, take cover!"  
  
The officer raised his head for a better look. Just as he saw Alex through the window, the window shattered followed by the sound of a gunshot. The officer fell backwards after being shot in the head, and hit the ground with the radio in one hand and pistol in the other; the radio staticed through a message about backup had been sent. Blood began to mix with the rain as it came down and washed away toward Alex.  
  
Alex can't believe what had happened in front of him. An unknown killer had wasted two cops in a matter of moments, but he was unharmed for the moment at least.  
  
A lightning bolt raced across the sky as it created a beautiful spread of electricity, and Alex looked almost out of instinct upward to see the sky. He just missed it by moments, but saw a dark figure on the top of a building next to him. Another lightning bolt flashed, this time Alex saw the figure more clearly. This person had very dark clothes on, possibly black, along with a veil that covered his face. In the man's right hand, a desert eagle was pointed at Alex and he froze out of fear again.  
  
'Does it end this way?' He reached into his collar area and slowly pulled out the pendent that Duo had given him months earlier. He slowly rubbed the pendent with his thumb, but then let it go and back into the shirt. 'No. My promise to myself is broken, but I won't die so easily.'  
  
Alex booked down the back alley as fast as he could and managed, to his amazement, not to be shot at. He jumped out into the main street where the lights would allow him to see again. He gasped for air with a smile on his face with the knowledge that he might have escaped from being killed. He glanced up to find out that there was cops with guns pointed at him and had barked orders for him to surrender.  
  
'Great, I'm under arrest after all.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Location: San Francisco Police Department  
  
Jail Block  
  
Date: 23, 5, AC-199  
  
Time: 6:30AM  
  
Alex sat on the jail cell bed, as he looked at the jail bars in hope that an officer would come and take away either him or his cellmate. His cellmate was named "Bubba". Alex and Bubba got acquainted during the night through talk, and Alex definitely didn't want to get anymore acquainted. Every time Bubba moved, Alex would move twice as much. This had been futile for Alex and he just stared with the hope Bubba wouldn't do anything.  
  
An officer walked up to the cell door and put a key into the lock. Alex's eyes shot wide open with excitement, and then saw a blonde-haired person following, who he recognized off the bat as Quatre. His happiness had just been shot down for the moment; they had found him.  
  
"The charges against you have been repelled; pending a hearing, for it to be completely dropped. You are free to go as long as you go with this man."  
  
Alex looked at Quatre for a second, and then stood up to walk forward.  
  
'I'm not going to argue.' Alex thought. 'It's either free air, or Bubba. There is no argument here.'  
  
"Never thought I would see you in a jail cell." Quatre commented as Alex got out of the jail cell. Quatre saw Bubba as he waved goodbye to Alex. "Looks like you made a new friend."  
  
"Let's not talk about it." Alex abruptly stated. He walked toward the jail exit and partially wringed his clothes dry. "So, what do I have to do to repay you, anyway?"  
  
Quatre leaned over as they went through the jail's exit and whispered in Alex's ears.  
  
Alex looked at Quatre with his eyes filled with shock.  
  
"WHAT?!" 


	6. Icedig Reborn: Preventor Snow

*Disclaimer* I don't own the name Gundam. It can't be profitted from in any shape or form.  
  
Chapter 5- Icedig Reborn: Preventor Snow  
  
Alex sat near the rear of Quatre's limo as they pulled away from the police department. Quatre held a cell phone to his right ear and talked business with the person on the other side.  
  
Alex couldn't believe the situations he had gotten himself into as of late, yet he now sat in a luxury item that made him feel completely uncomfortable. Worse than the vehicle he was in, was the thing Quatre had told him before they had left the jail block. Him becoming a Preventor, what the hell had he gotten himself into? He never wanted back onto the battlefield since Orion, but now he had agreed to a deal that would make him go back to that wrecked battlefield to stop the burning hatred. In his mind though, the hatred would have grown even if he were there or not. Even worse was the fact that he used to have been part of that hatred. The thought that he might have wiped out the remaining peace wouldn't let go of him. He had to agree to the deal or else he would be sent to jail for the murders of Trowa Barton and Wufei Chang, which also meant being stuck with Bubba for even longer than he wanted. It was a simple choice; he had chosen to fight again. Alex pounded his right fist slightly against the leather seating in frustration.  
  
'Damn it.'  
  
Quatre folded up his cell phone and looked at Alex with a slight smile on his face.  
  
"We're heading to New Edwards Base to get you acquainted with your new partner." Quatre stuffed his cell phone away into a coat pocket. "They'll also have some tests for you."  
  
Alex gave Quatre one of his rare glares. "Do I need to study for these 'tests'?"  
  
"No studying required."  
  
"Good." Alex broke his glare. "I hate studying."  
  
Alex's throat began to turn itself into a cottonmouth, and now he realized he needed something to drink before it turned into clothing of any type. He frantically looked for where the beverages were stored at, which made him look like a fool as he crawled over seating for something to drink. He felt through cushions while he flipped them over to find some sort of switch.  
  
"What are you looking for?" Quatre gazed at what Alex was doing, not really sure what to make of it.  
  
Alex stopped in the middle of flipping his fifth cushion. "I'm thirsty, where are the drinks at?"  
  
Quatre pointed over to the mini bar that was in plain sight. Alex almost went to tears as he saw the mini bar, and prevented his fists from beating the upside of his head.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Alex slid over and grabbed a glass while filling it with water. He downed several of the drinks and preceded to fix the mess he had caused.  
  
"Sorry Quatre."  
  
"It's alright."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Located in a dark conference room on one of the L2 colonies, a dark figure tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited for a videophone while he patiently sat. A red light flashed on the videophone in front of him. He reached over and pressed a button to answer the call. Orza appeared on the other side of the transmission.  
  
"Orza Kida reporting in as ordered."  
  
"You are four hours late reporting in."  
  
"I'm sorry, sir. I ran into some difficulty during my mission and had to get things straight before I could contact you."  
  
"What might these difficulties be?" The man leaned forward a little bit.  
  
"I was doing well and all, until...."  
  
"A Leo interfered between you and that gundam. Is that correct?" Orza nodded his head. "Why did I bother asking? I saw your battle, and it was an ordinary Leo. You had no excuse to have it stop you from completing your objective." The man raised his voice out of anger.  
  
"It was my first real fight, sir. I won't fail again. I promise."  
  
"You better hope you don't fail again." A smirk appeared on his face. "Though, your family failed against those forces as well. I shouldn't have expected you to win easily, so I'll forgive you this time."  
  
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, Eizo."  
  
"Wait for further orders, is that understood?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Over and out."  
  
Eizo pushed a button on the videophone and the conversation closed.  
  
"Lights on."  
  
The dark conference room brightened up and Eizo could now be seen fully. He had a dark shade of gray hair, which made him look a little bit younger than he really was. The man has the looked the age range of the thirties, but was actually around his mid-fifties. Eizo wore a traditional black tuxedo with a blue overcoat on the chair he sat on. He pulled out a cigarette case and got a cigarette. Eizo lit up the cigarette and began to breathe it.  
  
'What am I going to do with that pilot?' Eizo exhaled some smoke.  
  
The videophone lit up again with a green light instead of the red.  
  
"Good, Yasuo Suza you finally called. Took you long enough."  
  
Eizo reached over and pressed the flashing button.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The New Edwards base was all but abandoned after the base nearly exploded back in AC-195. Its missiles had been moved to other bases across the world, thus reduced the possibly of a huge explosion. Shortly before Mariemaea's forces were ready for their invasion of earth, New Edwards base had been converted into a mobile suit storage, analyzing, and maintenance facility. There was a smaller facility for specialized testing of pilots about a mile away from New Edwards. This facility was also nicknamed 'pilot hell' by those that had taken the tests there. Alex now knew too well how this place got its name, and almost wished he had never been sent there.  
  
Alex and Quatre walked along the outskirts of the main New Edwards complex as they proceeded toward the mobile suit maintenance bay. Alex had a look of being slightly pissed off, and had his arms behind his head.  
  
"I can't believe all those tests they gave me." Alex grimly spoke. "I nearly got killed on several of them."  
  
Quatre shook his head at Alex's statement. "You were just fine."  
  
"Just fine! I nearly drowned in that water tank...."  
  
"Only because you forgot to put your air mask on before you went in."  
  
"How was I supposed to know that?"  
  
"Its a given."  
  
"Well then, I wish I had been given that information."  
  
"That was two days ago anyway."  
  
"Oh yes, then there was that 'treadmill of death'." Alex pointed at Quatre. "I got flung off that thing every time I tried walking on it."  
  
"It was only going two miles per hour..."  
  
"So what? Each time I hit that wall with my back, do you know how much pain I was in?"  
  
"The wall was padded."  
  
Alex looked away from Quatre while he partially rubbed his back; even this rubbing caused irritation on the scars of Alex's back. "It hurts a lot more than you know."  
  
"Not as much as I went through recovering from that attack of yours back at Lunar Base."  
  
Alex retreated into silence as he heard Quatre words, and knew too well how much pain he must have went through. Alex decided to leave the topic of pain out of the rest of the conversation.  
  
"What do you make of that cat scan nearly electrocuting me?"  
  
"That, I must say, was unusual." Quatre caught sight of one of the complex's entrances. "I've never seen a cat scan machine go bonkers like that before. Anyway, we have arrived."  
  
"Alright."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex and Quatre rode on an elevator as it descended down into the complex. Quatre kept an eye on his watch, as he knew that Alex was in for a good surprise. Alex, on the other hand, stared into the elevator doors after his thoughts carried him away from his surroundings. The thought of a new partner confused him for he imagined to train someone, and then to have him or her fight alongside of him, or possibly a veteran pilot. He let his mind wander on the subject, while his eyes stared into the abyss known as the doors.  
  
The elevator doors opened up and Quatre stepped outside; he expected to be followed by Alex, except no one stepped out with him. Quatre looked behind him and saw Alex completely zoned out. He walked back and began wave his hands in front of Alex's face.  
  
"Earth to Alex, do you hear me?" Alex continued to stare and Quatre had only one option, now. He shook Alex furiously, "Snap out of it Alex."  
  
"AH! What was that for?"  
  
"Not paying attention. Let's get going."  
  
Alex followed Quatre out of the elevator and into a hallway lined with offices. The hallway seemed to be dull and ordinary, along with monotonous to Alex, as they continued down it. The hallway gave way to a docking bay as they came into sight of a Leo covered by several groups of maintenance teams. Quatre stopped dead in his tracks before Alex could walk into the docking bay, and he turned around to face Alex along with two people that appeared behind Alex. Alex looked at Quatre for a moment and glanced behind him to see if anyone was behind him. He turned back to face Quatre.  
  
"What is going on here? What are those guys doing here?"  
  
Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy came into light while Alex continued his stare at Quatre.  
  
Duo put his arm around Alex's neck. "We're here to introduce you to your partner, and catch up on a few things." Heero didn't look at Alex, but rather looked at the Leo being repaired.  
  
"You know...." Alex tried to gasp for air. "I can't breathe...."  
  
Duo let go of Alex. "Alright."  
  
Alex went on his knees and gasped for air. Once he got it back, he stood up and patted Duo on the back. "Thank you for the near death experience, I needed it." Alex put a smirk on his face. Both of them laughed a little bit.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt, but I think your partner is waiting for you." Quatre stopped their laughter dead on. Alex walked into the docking bay. "It should be the third mobile suit on the left."  
  
"Mobile suit? I thought my partner was human." Alex turned back to Quatre. "I must have a different definition of partner then."  
  
Alex looked down the line of mobile suits and saw something that he thought was gone forever. It was Icedig nearly rebuilt. The only differences from the original mobile suit were the silver, pseudo gundam antenna on its forehead and a tattoo of a snowflake on its right arm. The antenna was a pseudo in the respect that there was only one triangle that pointed upward with a pentagon anchor. The tattoo of the snowflake struck Alex as the oddest feature added to Icedig. 'Why would they put a tattoo painted onto a mobile suit?' Other than that thought, Alex was astonished at how the Preventors had rebuilt the mobile suit to look almost identical to the original built by Rio. He turned around to face the three pilots.  
  
"I can't believe they rebuilt that mobile suit."  
  
"It was surprising when Lady Une told us that this mobile suit would be rebuilt." Duo commented.  
  
"There is a difference though." Heero leaned up against a nearby wall.  
  
"What might that be?"  
  
"This version has Gundanium Armor installed on most of it." Duo stated. "Only the joints don't have Gundanium, they were fitted with Neo Titanium." Alex lifted up one of his eyebrows. "They simply ran out of Gundanium for the time being."  
  
"Oh, let me guess Sandrock was the reason behind that?"  
  
"You got that right."  
  
Alex looked back at Icedig. "Why does it have a snowflake tattooed on the right arm?"  
  
Not having a response given, Alex turned around to look at the three, and then a jacket flew into his face. He pulled the jacket down and got a good look at it.  
  
"A Preventor... jacket..." Alex staggered on his words. "Does this mean...."  
  
While in 'pilot hell', Alex had apparently forgotten that he was about to become a Preventor. He practically beat himself up on the inside for letting that thought go by.  
  
"Yep, you are now; Preventor Snow." Duo had a big smile on his face. Alex on the other hand has a grim smile. "You will be unofficially inducted later today."  
  
'Unofficially? What the hell, why can't I be inducted officially? Oh well.' Alex stopped his thoughts. "How long has Lady Une... err... Colonel Une had been planning this?"  
  
"Not long after she and the director of the San Jose facility had a talk." Quatre stated. "That is when she told me, that you were actually alive and well."  
  
Alex sighed for a moment and walked forward. He tried to walk back into the hallway, but an arm caught him on his right side. Heero held Alex firmly as he leaned up against the wall.  
  
"There is something we want you to do." Heero said as he stared forward and didn't make eye contact with Alex.  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"One last test."  
  
"I had enough of tests."  
  
"This test will make or break you."  
  
Alex looked at Heero without any clue what he meant.  
  
"Could you at least tell me, what it is?" 


	7. The Zero Effect

**Disclaimer** Alright, I don't own the gundam series. Bandai does. That's enough.  
  
Chapter 6- The Zero Effect  
  
Lady Une stood by a window in the administrator's office of the New Edward's Base. She had watched Alex's reaction at the sight of the jacket and his mobile suit. She almost had a smile about the deal, except she had other business to take care of first. She turned away from the window and walked over the facility administrator. The man looked normal and was well respected in the Preventor Corps. He sat in an armchair as Lady Une sat in chair opposite his desk.  
  
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"  
  
"I want you to keep quiet about our new arrival to this facility, along with the mobile suit that had been sent here a month ago. This matter has to be kept under wraps even from the Administrators of the Preventors."  
  
"You want me to lie to the Administrative Board?"  
  
"I don't want you to lie about it. Just don't send in this information. The man that was sent here isn't technically alive. It wouldn't go over very well with the Administrators."  
  
"So omitting the information. But if the Administrative board found out…"  
  
"Your head as well as mine would be on a platter. I'm very well aware of that."  
  
"What does this base get out of me doing this for you?"  
  
"Increased resource circulation, more money for further expansion; anything else that you might find necessary."  
  
The administrator stood up and walked over to his filing cabinet. He pulled out a file and walked back over to the desk.  
  
"I requested some more gundanium restraints for mobile suits awhile back." He flipped through some of the papers. "Haven't gotten an answer to my form yet. Could you put through the order?"  
  
"Why would this place need that sort of thing?"  
  
As their conversation had been going on, a mobile suit had been slowly lowered in the background with platforms underneath of it. As the legs passed by the window, the mobile suit looked more and more like a gundam. Wing Zero finally came to rest beyond the window.  
  
"The ordinary restraints put on mobile suits wear from constant maintenance, and will break apart within months. Gundanium restraints last for at least three times as long under the same conditions."  
  
"Ok. I'll try my best to get that order through for you. Don't expect it at first though."  
  
"Good."  
  
They continued to talk about issues that were related to the events in and around the base. An hour had passed by and a call came up on the videophone in the office.  
  
The administrator pressed the button and his secretary was on the other side.  
  
"Martha, what is it?"  
  
"The police chief of district 114 from San Francisco has called in to talk to Colonel Une."  
  
"Oh, really?"  
  
"Why would he want to talk to me?"  
  
"Don't ask me Colonel. I'm just a secretary. Do you want me to relay the transmission to you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The secretary's line scrambled up and the police chief appeared on the videophone. The administrator turned the videophone so that both he and Lady Une could see the man. The police chief had a graying beard, and seemed about the age of fifty.  
  
"Colonel Une. It's good that I got through to you. I've some news for you."  
  
"What might that be?"  
  
"The charges against the man, who currently in your custody, have been dropped completely. Due to new evidence."  
  
"Great. What evidence might that be?"  
  
"The description of the cloaked man on the rooftop from the man was the first evidence, but we thought he had made it up to cover the deaths of those three men. The other piece of evidence came from ballistics. The angles the shots were made from indicate that the gun was on a nearby roof. The man we arrested was on ground level, so it couldn't have been him. Even if he had run down some stairs, he would have been worn out from doing so. The arresting officers said he was only worn out from running out of the alley."  
  
"What about this 'cloaked man's' description?"  
  
"Like I said, at first we thought he was covering up or my men did. I took a look at the description myself, and it seemed like I was reliving a nightmare from over twenty years ago."  
  
"A nightmare? Why is that?"  
  
"During the years of AC-176 through AC-179, my police department in cooperation with others on earth and in the colonies hunted down a man that had a great similarity to that of this description."  
  
"I never heard of that manhunt."  
  
"That is because it was held in secret; we didn't want the public to go into a panic. Especially after what happened in AC-175."  
  
"What did he do?"  
  
"He killed twenty politicians, and who knows how many others. He killed each one brutally, absolutely no remorse. We gave the man the name 'Silent Wind' from the blood message he always left near the victim's body. No witnesses to the murders either."  
  
Lady Une paused at the man's words. "How did he get a description, then?"  
  
"A witness saw the man on the roof of a victim's apartment complex, shortly after a murder. The person gave us the description, but the killer somehow found out and our witness was found hung with fishing line around their neck. Oh God, I can't think of that person without crying. I'm just going to send you the rest of the data on that case. It should be coming through your fax machine." The fax machine in the office began to receive and printed up the documents that were being sent. "Do you have any other questions before I terminate this conversation?" The man was in tears.  
  
"You were one of the officers working on that case, weren't you?" The police chief didn't respond. "Thought so, I need nothing more. Thank you for your time."  
  
The video link died and Lady Une looked back at the administrator.  
  
"You don't mind the fax, do you?"  
  
"Not at all."  
  
Lady Une grabbed up the data as it came in. From the reading, it was soon apparent that the police didn't kid around about this guy. The photos of the victims alone sent chills down her spine; blood everywhere around the body, and the words 'Silent Wind' spelled in blood in some of the pictures. It was also apparent that most of the victims had been killed with a single bullet, a fifty-calibur bullet to be precise from the ballistics reports. Lady Une flipped through more pages of the report and came across what the chief had meant by a nightmare. In AC-179 the case on the assassin called Silent Wind had been closed. An explosion in a metropolitan factory on the outskirts of Paris had killed the assassin along with a SWAT team that was sent into the building on a raid. Even then, the raid wasn't meant to catch Silent Wind, but instead it was for the assassin that had killed Heero Yuy four years earlier. Somehow Silent Wind was found there purely on accident as the SWAT team entered the building; the last words from the SWAT team were 'Tango spotted. It is the Black Veil Killer.' In the aftermath of the explosion, police forces were hard pressed to find the ashes of the SWAT team let alone the man they had deemed a demon. The day after this event, Silent Wind's case was closed.  
  
"If this man that Snow saw really was this assassin, how come Snow wasn't killed by him? Secondly, why after all these years, would he start his killings again?"  
  
"I don't know, I would like to know how he managed to get out of that explosion without dying."  
  
"That too. But, I'm more concerned that he might come after Snow, though."  
  
"Your man should be just fine."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
An alarm went off and red lights flashed from the mobile suit maintenance bay. The alarm sound was different from most alarms in a sense that it phased in and out; that way people wouldn't go deaf from the noise.  
  
"What's that alarm for?"  
  
"It means that a mobile suit is trying to escape."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
'Make it stop! Make it stop! I beg of you! Make it stop!'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Wing Zero thrashed its arm restraints forward and then its leg restraints. Each gave into the power of the gundam, but didn't break. The gundam squirmed and thrashed more as it tried to escape the maintenance bay. The hip restraints didn't bung an inch as the powerful gundam tried its best to break loose.  
  
A group of wires led from the cockpit door and onto the catwalk where a computer system and devices were hooked up. This catwalk shook every time Wing Zero thrashed. The devices slid from one side to another, let alone the people who were around it. A scientist sat by the computer nervously as several of the instruments indicated dangerously levels of brain activity of the pilot inside of Wing Zero. Every time he tried to cut power to the gundam, the command met with error and Wing Zero shut out the scientist's computer after several attempts. Heero calmly stood behind scientist and watched both the instruments and Wing Zero.  
  
'Zero. This is unlike you, what are you trying to do?'  
  
A maintenance crew desperately grabbed a hold of the railings with each shake seemingly worse than the last. Duo and Quatre slowly made their way down the catwalk as they held onto the rails; not wanting to fall. They had almost made it to the cockpit and were about to grab onto it.  
  
"Cut the power. Damn it."  
  
"I can't. The mobile suit has locked me out."  
  
"That's just great." Duo sarcastically said.  
  
"Duo, give me a hand!"  
  
Quatre and Duo reached out and grabbed the top of the cockpit door. Just as they did though, Wing Zero thrashed forward and sent them crashing into the catwalk.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Got thrown back."  
  
"Shit."  
  
Heero saw them vainly attempt to get at the cockpit, but weren't very successful at it. He peered back the scientist who barely kept his seat in place.  
  
"Vitals."  
  
"Human brains can't function at this level for very long. If the system continues, he will die."  
  
"More reason to pry that door open." Duo shouted as Quatre and him tried again.  
  
"What was the point of this experiment, anyway?" Quatre grabbed onto the cockpit again and promptly got knocked off.  
  
"I wanted to see if Zero would show anything to Alex." Heero leaned over the scientist and glared at the devices. "Didn't think this would happen though."  
  
Wing Zero thrashed another time and sent some of the devices over the railing. Everyone, but Heero and the scientist, crashed into the railings and held on for dear life. As sudden as the thrashings began, Wing Zero stopped dead cold and the arms went to rest against the wall. Its legs stood firmly against the ground. A second later, the cockpit door slowly began to open.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Quatre let's get going."  
  
"Right." Duo and Quatre dashed over to the opening cockpit.  
  
"The mobile suit shut itself down. There is nothing to explain it."  
  
Heero looked at Wing Zero with almost a hint of confusion on his face.  
  
'What was it Zero?'  
  
Quatre and Duo hopped into the cockpit and reappeared with the unconscious Alex. Sensors covered his body and Duo was taking them off several at a time.  
  
'What did he see?'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex was lying down on some grass; the grass was soft and seemed almost artificial, but it swayed against him with the wind. He opened his eyes and colony ceiling with its stretched arch.  
  
'A colony? I thought I was on earth.'  
  
He pulled himself into a sitting position and took a long look around him. The stuff around him seemed older than it should have; everything was modern and all, but everything seemed to be a version from over a decade ago.  
  
'What the hell?'  
  
After he dragged himself to a standing position, he saw a facility, a factory at first glance, to his left, and the place had the air of familiarity with it; Alex had no idea why. The facility beckoned him to walk toward it, and his body obeyed. He walked against his own will; no way to stop himself.  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
Alex got back control over his body and stared at the facility. His mind cleared itself out and the facility was the only thing left.  
  
'Have I see this place before? I don't remember a building like it.'  
  
As he stared, two people, one a grown man and a young child of four, frantically ran out of the building; the man did at least, with the boy being dragged along. They were running toward Alex, but didn't seem to notice him. Alex stared at the man closely and thought he had seen him before. Not sure where he knew the man from, though. The man stopped suddenly and looked back at the little boy along with the facility. He picked up the boy and held him in his arms; then proceeded to book even faster away from the facility. At that moment, Alex saw the face even better and knew who it was.  
  
'Rio. He might be a few years younger than I remember, but that is Rio. The child must be me then.'  
  
Alex cried with joy and ran toward his brother.  
  
"Rio!"  
  
He continued to run at Rio even though the man didn't react to his presence. Alex was within striking distance and tried to hug his brother; he found to his horror that he passed right through Rio. He stopped dead in his tracks and held his hands in front of his face.  
  
'A dream. No, a memory.'  
  
Alex couldn't get himself to move an inch as he looked at his hands.  
  
'Zero succeeded in unlocking memories that were long lost. What else did it...'  
  
A bright light shined from the gaps of Alex's fingers. He let his hands fall to his side as another horrific sight occurred in front of him.  
  
An explosion erupted from the rooftop of the facility followed by several smaller explosions on the third floor of the building. A moment of silence fell over the place, and then the third floor completely exploded. A ripple effect followed, the second then the first floor exploded. The colony ground split open with cracks that fractured in all directions. The structure couldn't hold its own weight anymore, and the facility crumbled to the ground. Rubble flew everywhere, and some had missed Alex by inches.  
  
After the initial explosions, Alex wasn't fazed by any of the events that happened in front of him.  
  
'Ito was right. Rio did do it.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A blurred vision of people came to Alex, but couldn't identify them.  
  
"Alex. Do you hear me?"  
  
"Snap out of it."  
  
"I think he is coming..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex couldn't believe his eyes as he stood at the entrance to Hilde's and Duo's junkyard. The things he had just seen were washed away at the sight of the junkyard.  
  
'I'm back.'  
  
He took a step forward and went through the entrance.  
  
Suddenly, Alex found himself on a bombed out street. Buildings lay in ruins around him, and smoke fumed upward toward the colony sky.  
  
'It can't be.'  
  
Alex began to run as fast as he could manage. He finally came upon a smoldering wreck of mobile suit, a Leo. The mobile suit had a molten hole through its back.  
  
'There is no way. It just can't be. Not that battle.'  
  
His worst fear was very real as he saw two standing mobile suits; Icedig and Toteis.  
  
"God no! Get the hell out of there!" Alex panicked and ran at the two mobile suits.  
  
Toteis ignited its beam saber and jetted at Icedig. Icedig ignited its beam saber just in time to block the attack. Icedig tried to counter-attack, but Toteis blocked every effort made by Icedig. These efforts would prove even more useless against Toteis, as this enemy started its second wave of attacks.   
  
"Retreat! Get Sandrock! Don't fight him!"  
  
Toteis jumped off the ground and smashed Icedig in the torso with its leg. Icedig collapsed to the ground on its back, and the beam saber it held was flung out of hand. Toteis slowly approached Icedig again, but Icedig activated its shoulder thrusters; it got a good distance away. Icedig pulled out its gundanium sabre, and charged at Toteis at full speed.  
  
"NO!"  
  
Toteis flew toward Icedig, but at the last moment Toteis slid to its right. Icedig stopped its charge and turned its head to find the Toteis had gone off to. Volleys of missiles appeared out of nowhere and were headed toward Icedig. It thrusted backward and dodged the attack. More volleys of missiles came at it. Icedig dodged the missiles again, but nearly got hit. There was no sign of the unknown mobile suit, none whatsoever. Toteis smashed the back of Icedig and sent it reeling forward. The mobile suit crashed into a building, that somehow managed not to get damaged up to this point, and Icedig collapsed into the ground.  
  
"Shit... Stop fighting!"  
  
Alex was halfway to the battle, but he was nearly out of breath. He couldn't run, not anymore. Alex fell to his knees and put his hands on the pavement while he continued to watch the battle.  
  
Icedig rose up again while it held its gundanium sabre in its right hand. Toteis was in sight, there was no mistake, and Icedig planned on taking out the suit. The building behind Icedig erupted in smoke as two blue mobile suit arms appeared and restrained it. The building gave out and it collapsed. Once the smoke settled, Flugtod had Icedig in its arms, and Icedig was helpless. The gundanium sabre fell to the ground and penetrated it, which left it standing up.  
  
Alex got back up after a second wind kicked in and dashed off to stop the events in front of him. An old-fashioned army truck passed Alex along the way.  
  
'Must get there.'  
  
Icedig was forced to the ground with its head smashed into the pavement; only the cockpit wasn't touching the ground. The truck pulled up to the two mobile suits while Toteis stood a distance away as though on guard. Several men jumped out of the vehicle and raced over to cockpit of Icedig. Another moment passed, the pilot of Icedig was seized and dragged into the truck by the men.  
  
Alex finally reached the area, but the truck drove off on him. He was too late to help himself. Alex wouldn't have able to catch the truck; it was gone.  
  
Flugtod let go of the now pilot-less Icedig, and picked up the gundanium sabre as it stood back up. Toteis turned its attention back to Icedig and walked over to it. Flugtod left the area in the same direction as the truck had.  
  
A black void engulfed the area around Alex.  
  
"Why are you showing me this, Zero?"  
  
No response.  
  
"WHY!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I'm telling you that he is in a coma. There is nothing I can do."  
  
"Come on. You've got to do something."  
  
"I can't. Only the patient can pull himself back."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex was now in a place eerily familiar to him. He was in a hallway lined with cylinders filled with pinkish liquids. There was an object in each cylinder, some big and some small. Alex stepped closer toward one of the cylinders and saw what the object was, a human baby; umbilical cord and all, just without the mother. The cylinder also had a number at its base; this one happened to be 654.  
  
'Why are these children numbered?'  
  
He walked down the hall and saw more and more of the same.  
  
'What the hell is this place?'  
  
As Alex continued down the hallway he came upon a computerized door with a sign that said, Infant Care. Undeterred, Alex walked to the door and tried to walk through it like he had done with people. He banged his head against the door and fell onto the ground.  
  
Alex raised one hand into the air. "Note. Must push something to see if its there next time. Don't use head." The arm collapsed to his side. After a few stunned moments, Alex got himself back up and he brushed off some dirt from his pants.  
  
The door opened as he dusted off his pants. Alex looked up to see what had opened the door and his face went pale from the person he saw.  
  
'Isn't that the man who... Wait... who is he?'  
  
A man, that wore a black outfit, black trench coat, and a veil that covered his face, walked through the door. His arms at his side were perfectly still with step he took, and his hands had black gloves on. The man walked past Alex without a bit of care. Alex himself had chills come over him, and he could only keep an eye on him for a little while.  
  
'Why is he doing here? What is this place?'  
  
As Alex thought about the man, the door began to close.  
  
'I almost forgot about the door.'  
  
Alex charged at the door and leaped through the opening.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
'Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Where am I going? I can't see. Shit. What's happening? I can't feel anything either. Shit. There are no more memories torturing me, but I can't see or feel anything. Was that price worth it? Yes... No.... It's never worth it. But, now my mind doesn't see any more memories. What the hell happened? It must been a shock to my system when I went into that room. Wait. Did I go into that room? If I did, then what did I see? I couldn't have gone in, but I remember running through the door. Wait. There is a sensation in my arm, but its not like I hit that door. That was my head that did that. This sensation actually feels real.'  
  
Alex opened his eyes and a light shined down on him. He squinted and slowly the light dissipated to sooth the eyes rather than blind them. Alex turned his head and saw he was in a hospital issued bed surrounded by curtains. He saw that he had a traditional patient's gown. Alex pulled himself up into a sitting position, and tried to take in his surroundings. It was during the day, the sunlight from the other side of the curtains made that obvious, and it appeared he might have been on earth. His arm felt the same sensation right before he woke up, and he looked at it. There was a needle that slowly injected clear solution into his bloodstream. He yanked out the needle along with anything else that was attached to him.  
  
"Is this another memory, or a disillusion of Zero's? No it feels too real."  
  
A doctor opened one of the curtains and closed it behind him. He didn't look at Alex as he entered and looked at a clipboard with Alex's current medical information. He pulled a popsicle stick wrapped in paper and tore off the paper. The doctor looked up and saw Alex as he sat there.  
  
"Good. You are awake."  
  
"Have I been out long?"  
  
"A week."  
  
"Oh. Must have needed the rest."  
  
"Open your mouth please."  
  
Alex complied with the doctor's request and the doctor put the popsicle in his mouth. He put a little flashlight into his mouth as well. The doctor pulled out the popsicle and brought an odd looking device that was curved to a small round point. He put the device into Alex's right ear and looked through it.  
  
"What's that for?"  
  
"It's to make sure that your ears are clean and to check on a few others things."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Turn your head this way."  
  
Alex did as the doctor said again, and the doctor looked into his left ear. The doctor pulled it away again.  
  
"Now for your eyes."  
  
"What about my eyes."  
  
The doctor put away the odd device and pulled an even stranger device that looked similar to the other except it curved outward from a viewing hole. "Just making sure that your eyes are good."  
  
Alex opened his eyes as wide as possible and the doctor viewed each eye carefully. The doctor took away the device and let go of Alex.  
  
"Well. I must say. You are just fine."  
  
"Good. May I ask, what was being injected into me?"  
  
"It's a mild painkiller."  
  
"Painkiller? For what?"  
  
"Those scars on your back. They are in such a place with the nervous system that laying on them would sting a lot. We decided to give you the painkiller so you wouldn't suffer as much when sleeping."  
  
"Thanks. I guess."  
  
Alex slid himself to the edge of the bed and put his feet on the ground. The doctor was about to leave when he remembered something.  
  
"Oh yeah. Your clothes are in the closet on the other side of the curtain. I was told to tell you that you are to report in when you were first able to."  
  
"Gotcha." Alex waved at the man. 'I'm definitely back in reality. Not even the Zero system is this cruel.'  
  
-Author Notes-  
  
Alright, I'm back on the writing track. I should be back to writing fully soon... I hope. 


	8. Second Impressions

**Disclaimer**  
  
Gundam Wing is owned by the Bandai Co. and this profit will not profit me in any way shape or form.  
  
Hm... I have remember to do my java readings soon before I go back to college. I can't seem to remember to read that stuff. Poor study habits I tell you. At least I'm going back to college, unlike a few people I know. Easy to get into, but not easy to stay in it. That's how MTU works. Anyway, enjoy yourselves... what was it I was thinking again?  
  
Chapter 7- Second Impressions  
  
Alex slid on a pair of dark purple khaki pants, and zipped it up. He already had a white tank top on, which barely showed a hint of the scars that lay underneath. He grabbed a short sleeve blue shirt from a hanger and put it on over his head. There was a jacket on another hanger in front of him. It had purplish sleeves and a dark green, padded back to it. The jacket wasn't quite the same as Alex had remembered. Then again, his mind just had a week's nap or so he hoped. He grabbed the jacket and slid it on. Once he had put it on, Alex realized it had a feel of textile and synthetic materials, wool and polyester. He walked over a table nearby and some of his personal effects, which were his wallet, some loose change, a rubber band, and a pendent that Duo had given him (which was from Hilde). He picked up the pendent and put it around his neck while he tucked it under his shirt. The rest of his affects were stuffed into one of his pants pockets. Alex glanced around the room for anything else, but saw nothing more than curtains and an adjacent bathroom. He headed toward the door that led out of the room, but, as soon as he opened it, he realized he had no shoes on.  
  
'Wanna bet the floor is cold this time of day?'  
  
Alex went back to the closet and found a pair of black shoes. He slipped them on and found a pair of socks nearby. He didn't want to take off his shoes again, so he stuffed the socks into his khakis' pocket. It stuck slightly out of the pocket and clashed with the neatness of outfit, but Alex didn't care about that.  
  
'I need to check-in. Whether I like it or not.'  
  
He left the room and shut the door behind him. The hallway was typical for an infirmary, or a hospital, with a thick, blue line on the wall he faced along with the wall he had his back to. Alex looked to his left and saw a thick, green line on a wall further down. He looked to his right and saw an orange one.  
  
"Shit. How am I supposed to know what these lines are? Why don't they just have signs up? I mean, a guy could easily get lost in this place."  
  
Alex decided to follow the orange line.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Eizo breathed in another cigarette and exhaled the smoke. He sat as his desk with only an ashtray and videophone on it. The room was dimly lit from the light that came through the curtains. Some portraits hung on the walls, but the room was mostly dreary, otherwise. As Eizo inhaled some more, a door in the room opened and a man walked in.  
  
"What was it that you wanted to see me for?"  
  
Eizo looked at him and exhaled the smoke. This man was in his mid-twenties with a military uniform on. The uniform wasn't an officer uniform, but more like a combatant's with a hint of camouflage on it. On his shoulder, he had the markings of a major in an army with an insignia of a rose under it. He wore a green hat that the initials JA, which were woven in silver threading. At first glance, it's obvious that this man had a Japanese and some European heritage. He stood at a height of 6'4" and had black hair with light brown eyes.  
  
"Major Jarrett Amuza." The major saluted when his name was mentioned. "It's good to hear about the asteroid mining. Nice job."  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
"We now have a new vast resources thanks to your efforts."  
  
"It was an honor." Amuza glared at Eizo as he thought 'Old man'.  
  
"Being a Major at your age is truly an accomplishment. For that reason, I want you to lead the mobile suit attack on the Preventors."  
  
"Sir. That isn't for a few months."  
  
"I know it is. That'll give you time to get acquainted with the men you'll be leading."  
  
"It would be my pleasure." Amuza took a little bow in respect. 'Finally, the old man gives me a job worthy of my stature.'  
  
"Until then though, you will be stationed at this colony. Is that understood?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alpha Company will also be part of that, as well."  
  
"Of course." Amuza grabbed his hat slightly with his right hand. 'Figures, they would bring in that company. They never leave home without that blonde-haired, red-eyed kid. Makes me sick.'  
  
"They will also be doing some pre-attacks to soften the enemy. If all goes well, earth will be nothing more than a turkey shoot."  
  
"Excellent strategy, sir." Amuza nodded his head. 'Entrusting such a plan with that kid. That's incredibly stupid. He should have sent me.'  
  
"I'm glad you agree, Major. Orza Kida knows what he is doing. The plan should go without a hitch."  
  
"It's a real shame the other two couldn't be here to see their cousin's success." Amuza added on in thought. 'Or his failure.'  
  
"It was a tragedy. But, we have to accept our losses and move on."  
  
"No sense sheltering in the past." The black haired major put his left hand out as he said that. 'It's not that much of a tragedy. At least those two can't get in my way, anymore.'  
  
"That is all, Major. You are dismissed." Eizo turned his chair and faced one of the portraits.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Major Jarret Amuza saluted and walked through the door he came from. Amuza took a quick glance at Eizo, which turned into a glare. The door shut behind him. Eizo breathed in another puff of smoke and exhaled it.  
  
'Good. Looks like his last assignment calmed his hatred. I hope Orza and him will get along for the rest of this operation.'  
  
The gray-haired, old man put his cigarette down to the ashtray and snuffed the cigarette out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Duo leaned up against the patient check-in station of the infirmary, where Alex had been taken a week earlier.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"I'm positive the patient, Alex Cros, has yet to check out." The nurse at the station replied.  
  
"The doctor said he woke up a hour ago and would be up and about."  
  
"If that is correct, he would have been here by now. You must be thinking of another patient."  
  
"I'm telling you. I have the right patient."  
  
"Then, he would have been here by now."  
  
The braided, brown haired man wasn't getting anywhere with the nurse. He glanced up from the counter and saw thick green lines on the walls. Duo sighed and caught sight of a man who wore a green, purple jacket, as the man walked toward him.  
  
'He finally arrives. Took him long enough.'  
  
"Hey, Duo. What you doing here?"  
  
"Waiting for you." Duo stood up.  
  
"Why would you want to wait around for me?"  
  
"Good question. I'm just here to get you where you need to go."  
  
"Oh. Thank you for your patience, then."  
  
"Be very glad. I was tired of talking to this nurse." Duo pointed his right thumb at the nurse.  
  
"Hey, I was trying to be helpful." The nurse angrily said.  
  
Duo shook his head. "Anyway, what took you so long..." Duo sniffed the air and backed up from Alex. "When was the last time you took a shower?"  
  
Alex stared at Duo. "I can't help the smell. The last time I took a shower was during the testing at 'pilot hell'."  
  
"Over a week ago, great..." Duo clamped his nose shut and the nurse did the same.  
  
"Hey! It's not that bad."  
  
"Yes it is." The nurse and Duo said in unison.  
  
"I'll take one after the check-in. Satisfied?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I won't take one any earlier. I just want to get this check-in over with."  
  
"Don't mind me if I keep my nose closed until then."  
  
"Stop acting that way. It's not that bad."  
  
"Yes it is."  
  
Alex shook his head and leaned over the counter to sign the checkout papers. The nurse rolled her chair back away from him. Alex let a sigh and signed the papers. He got back up and looked at Duo.  
  
"To answer your earlier question. I didn't know what those lines meant. Choose the orange instead of the green. Wandered around the other half of the building until a guard directed me here."  
  
Duo leaned up against the counter and put his head between his hands. 'Should have known, he would have gotten lost in this place.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You don't have to trail ahead of me that much."  
  
"I insisted that I take lead."  
  
"But, you're at least ten feet in front of me."  
  
"I know I am. Anyway... We're here."  
  
Duo came up to a door with the words 'Briefing Room' on it. Alex walked up right next to Duo. He noticed that Duo had stopped breathing through his nose.  
  
'Come on it isn't that bad.' Alex shook his head slightly. "Great. Looks like I get thrown into an assignment, then."  
  
"Not exactly. More like you are about to meet your team."  
  
"Oh that's wonderful" Alex paused for a moment. "What was that?"  
  
"A team. As in, a group of people..."  
  
"I know that part. What I meant to say, is that... I'm on a team now?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Lady Une had something to do with this right?"  
  
"Partially."  
  
"Thought so. Well, I best get in there. I'll be in contact with you, soon."  
  
Alex began to open the door.  
  
"There is another thing, though."  
  
"Duo it can wait. Tell me after this thing is over. I just want this to be over with."  
  
"But..."  
  
"No buts." Alex pointed at Duo.  
  
Alex went through the door and slammed it behind him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The room had a long office table in it, along with several chairs that lined the table. He walked over and sat in one of the chairs. There was another man in the room, though. The man had short gray hair, and blue eyes that had a look of resentment; the eyes had kept their stare of Alex since he had entered the room. He also had Preventor clothes on, except his jacket had brown color in place of the purple, which Alex had on.  
  
"Do you know how much you ruined my life?"  
  
"Let's not get on that topic."  
  
"I think we need to."  
  
"Come on, I don't even know your real name. Before we continue this conversation, please tell me it."  
  
"Technical Trainee Toki Watari. Better remember that name next time."  
  
"I will. Alright, how did I ruin your life?"  
  
"Because of you, my laptop got taken away from me. Do you know how much time I put behind my baby?" Alex blinked in confusion. "I wouldn't think so. That's my life's work. I built it myself; I've done wonders with that thing. Now it's gone, because of you!"  
  
"Hey! I wasn't the one who hacked into the Preventors' computer and dug up information on a certain person!"  
  
"Kaori forced me to do that!"  
  
"You could have just walked away!"  
  
"You don't know that girl. She is a demon. She nearly killed someone when they pulled a prank on her."  
  
"Killed someone over a prank?" Alex raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah, shaving cream pie incident. Shortly before you came to the facility."  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
"I wouldn't have been forced to do that, though. If you had just, left Misao alone on beating Kaori. But, no! You had to get him to win against her!" Toki pointed his finger at Alex with each word.  
  
"It was necessary from my point of view." Alex crossed his arms in defiance.  
  
"You should have considered others' point of views. Like mine... and my laptop." Toki cried at the mention of his laptop.  
  
"Would you give the laptop a rest? You can build another."  
  
"I know, but the software isn't so easy to find. It took me months just to get that hack..." Toki stopped himself from saying something he might not want a Preventor to have found out. "Ok. I'll give it a rest."  
  
"Much better." Alex felt the conversation had calmed down, and let his arms to his side.  
  
"I'm sorry about exploding on you, but I miss my laptop." Toki cried again.  
  
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Lady... err... Colonel Une about it."  
  
"You will?" Toki's eyes glistened at the idea of getting his laptop back.  
  
"I promise."  
  
"Awesome."  
  
"First though, would you might telling me. How did you get here?"  
  
"After I and the other two had a talk with Quatre Winner, CEO..."  
  
"I already know that you were detained by the director. Get to the part during or the after the attack in San Jose."  
  
"Ok. Shortly after the San Jose attack, the director had my laptop..." Toki shed another tear. "Ceased and impounded. The other two got minor infractions for breaking service conduct. I was given two options, though."  
  
"What were the two options?"  
  
"My first option was to accept a 'special' learning offer assigned by Colonel Une. The second one was to go to jail for about five years for hacking the Preventors' computer."  
  
"I'm guessing you choose the first option."  
  
"Obviously."  
  
"Well, I guess you are on my team. Why else would you be in this room?" Alex stood up and looked at the door he came through.  
  
"Me being on your team? Are they nuts!" Toki had panic on his face.  
  
"Well, I'm not sure I'm in charge, though. "  
  
"You aren't in charge? Oh great. With my luck, we're probably going to get stuck with a drill sergeant."   
  
"If we do, he will more than likely get us into shape or something." Alex shuddered at the thought.  
  
"I should have accepted option two." Toki let a sigh as he slid down his chair.  
  
"It's not as bad as going to jail, though."  
  
"I guess so."  
  
Alex walked a little bit toward the door and turned back at Toki.  
  
"Have you noticed something a mist in the air?"  
  
"That smell? Yeah I noticed it. Don't care about it, though."  
  
Alex let out a smile. "Good to hear"  
  
Alex glanced around the room for a little bit of time and stopped to look at the Preventors' logo on one of the walls. He walked over to the wall and took more of the logo in.  
  
'I'm a Preventor now. I've got to remember that. No matter what, my past will not affect my performance.'  
  
"John... I mean Alex. You're a Preventor now, right?" Alex nodded. "Well, what's your codename?"  
  
"It's Snow..."  
  
The door opened as Alex spoke those words. Lady Une stepped through the door and had a briefcase with her.  
  
"I'm sorry to keep you, two gentlemen, waiting." Lady Une did a gesture of apology.  
  
"It's ok." Alex walked back to his seat and sat down. Toki and him looked at Lady Une as she began to speak again.  
  
"I have no doubt that Duo has told you about this team being formed, Alex." Alex nodded as Lady Une walked over to the table and sat down. She had a view of both of them and of the door. "Toki Watari, you haven't been informed other than what Alex has told you, right?"  
  
"That is correct."  
  
"Good. The reason for my delay, was that your team leader was fixing a mobile suit at the time that you came out of your coma, Alex."  
  
"The process couldn't be stopped, I take it?"  
  
"Correct."  
  
Toki looked at Alex with a bit of confusion. "Wait. You were in a coma?"  
  
"Long story." He glanced shortly at Toki.  
  
"I'll want to hear it. Well, after this."  
  
"No problem."  
  
Both of them looked back at Lady Une.  
  
"So, where is this leader of ours?"  
  
"Your team leader is right outside that door. Preventor Lumin, come in here." 


	9. Training Blues and Blacks

**Disclaimer** Gundam is copyrighted by the Bandai Co. and what I write here can't be... same old junk. Now here is something to think about, how about making this junk into a beautiful sculpture? Maybe, a house? The ideas are endless, though this disclaimer isn't.  
  
Chapter 8- Training Blues and Blacks  
  
"This is Preventor Lumin, your team leader."  
  
Toki sat flabbergasted as Preventor Lumin stepped into the room. His mouth was open, but nothing came out.  
  
Alex on the other hand wasn't shocked, as much, because he knew Preventor Lumin. Though he had to admit, he didn't expect this person to be the team leader.  
  
'Hilde?'  
  
Hilde Schbeiker stood just inside the room with an oil soaked rag in hand, which wrapped up a wrench. She wore an oil-stained, light blue maintenance suit with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Her arms had fresh oil streaks on them, and she had some smudged oil on her chin.  
  
"Looks like I made an impression on them already." Hilde had a slight smile on her face, and shook her head as she saw them in stares.  
  
Alex shook his head to snap himself out of his stare, and saw Toki with a stare of his own. He leaned over and did a light shove to stop his stare.  
  
Toki looked at Alex. "Don't tell me I was staring."  
  
"Yep, you were." Alex turned his head from Toki.  
  
"So, were you Alex." Hilde added as she walked up to the table and sat down.  
  
"Sorry, Miss Schbeiker. I apologize." Toki clapped his hands together in a sign of forgiveness.  
  
"It's ok. Call me Lumin while on duty, though."  
  
"Alright, Lumin."  
  
"As for you Snow..." Hilde cocked her head toward Alex.  
  
Alex had his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs under the table. "If you want to know, it was a stare of disbelief."  
  
"Sure it was..." Hilde shook her head. "I was going to say; it's good to see that you're out of your coma."  
  
"Thank you." Alex turned his chair to face Lady Une. "Colonel. May I ask, how long has 'Lumin' been in the Preventors?"  
  
"I've been in the corps for three months. You should've asked me." Hilde said as she was pissed off at Alex for trying to override her.  
  
"You're right. I'll ask you next time." Alex said in a sarcastic tone, while he was pissed off at what Hilde had said earlier, and didn't even make eye contact with her.  
  
Hilde was about to say something when Toki interfered. "Hold on you two. If you are going to argue, do it after this meeting. I kind of want to get a shower in sometime today." Hilde and Alex looked at him. "Please?"  
  
"Ok." "Sure."  
  
The three of them turned their attention to Lady Une, who wasn't angry, but wasn't exactly happy at the same time. She glanced at both Alex and Hilde, and shook her head in disapproval. Lady Une cleared her throat and began to speak.  
  
"The reason for this meeting is to brief the two newer members about what this team will do. Lumin and Snow already are affiliated with each other."  
  
Toki took a quick look at Alex and Hilde with his eyes opened a little bit. 'That might explain a few things.' The gray-haired technician looked back at Lady Une.  
  
"Lumin this is Toki Watari." Lady Une gestured toward Toki. "He will be your technician on your team."  
  
"Wait... I'm not certified."  
  
"You'll be once you've gotten the training done."  
  
"What training??" Toki stared at Lady Une in disbelief.  
  
"You'll see." Hilde put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be at the same time as the other training in the group. You won't miss anything."  
  
"But, training?" Toki gagged on the word 'training'.  
  
"Yes. A crash course in how to work electronics and repair mobile suits. Is that understood?" Lady Une stated.  
  
"Yes ma'am." Toki hesitated and didn't make another sound.  
  
"Preventor Lumin, here, will be your superior, and what she says goes. Is that understood?" Alex and Toki nodded. "Good. As for you Snow, your job is going to be special."  
  
"Special? What do you mean by special?" Alex sat straight up.  
  
"You will be the primary agent on the ground and in mobile suit combat."  
  
"Oh... what?" Alex said with shock and leaned forward in his seat.  
  
"In this team, you are the primary agent that will accomplish the missions given to your team. Lumin will be backing you up, though."  
  
"Ok. No offense to Lumin, but why aren't I the leader then?" Alex pointed at himself when he said 'leader'.  
  
"Two reasons. One, Lumin has had three months worth of experience that you don't have. Secondly, the leader of this team may occasionally have to go public from time to time. Snow, you aren't supposed to be alive, nor do you exist in Preventor databases. It wouldn't go over very well with the Administrative Board, if they find out that you are alive."  
  
"Understood Colonel. Sorry for my indesgression. Another thing, why have me as an active agent on a team where I could be seen by anyone at anytime?"  
  
"We'll call it a figment of their imagination. There will be only one agent at location on paper, which is Lumin, so you'll be written off as a mirage."  
  
"Oh... ok." Alex turned his seat away from Lady Une. 'Great. I should have stayed in that coma.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
An hour later, Alex, Hilde, and Toki walked down a hall in the New Edwards base as they headed toward the dormitories. Alex had his hands in his khaki's pockets and his eyes firmly fixed further down the hall. Toki walked behind Alex with a cheerful expression on his face. Hilde was along side of Alex as they went through the hall.  
  
"I can't believe it." Toki cried in joy. "I'm going to get my laptop back. My baby, my pride and joy, will be back with me again. Isn't that great news?"  
  
Alex stayed silent at Toki's words as he continued down the hall. Hilde turned to face Toki and shook her head in agreement.  
  
"You can only use it with my authorization. You know that right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, I don't care what you use it for. Just don't hack into another Preventor Computer again, got that?"  
  
"Yes ma'am." The smile on Toki's face widened from the thought of having his laptop back. A little ways down the hall, he caught sight of the room that had the same number as the cardkey given to him. Toki stopped and took out his cardkey. "I'll see you guys later. I'm going to get some rest."  
  
"Cya." Hilde waved at Toki as he entered his room. "Alright, Alex. What was with you back there?" She looked back at Alex with a critical eye.  
  
Alex continued to walk and didn't respond to her.  
  
"Answer me. Damn it." Hilde grabbed Alex's right arm and brought him to a halt. He looked at her with a glare. "Well?"  
  
"It was what you said." Hilde had a confused face at his words. "You implied that I had stared at you for another reason than I told."  
  
"You did."  
  
"The reason I gave was the real McCoy. I seriously didn't expect to see you again. How was I supposed to act?"  
  
"I expected you to act like a rational adult about it. Not like a child."  
  
"A child?"  
  
"Yes a 'child'." Hilde forced Alex's body to completely face her. "You didn't think about what to say. You just said something out of impulse. Much like a child would."  
  
"Did I?" Alex raised his tone of voice. "Well, then. How about we settle in a combat simulator?"  
  
"No. You have the advantage in that." Hilde brought out a little cheerful smile. "Besides, wouldn't you rather use your own hands for once?" A little smirk came out of the cheerful smile. She knew she had him.  
  
"Sure." Alex hesitated and then said. "Where and when do you want this fight?"  
  
"The gymnasium in the martial arts section and in two hours." Hilde held up two of fingers on her right hand.  
  
"Why not now?"  
  
"I need to take a shower to get this grim off me." She combed her left hand through her dark blue hair.  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
"Speaking of which, you need one too." Hilde pointed at him. "You are pretty ripe."  
  
"Right. I forgot about that." Alex dashed off toward the nearest locker room.  
  
Hilde stood still as she watched Alex run off. 'This is the first step in helping him get over his past. I just hope that I don't hurt him in the process. Not too much, anyway.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex took a step onto a typical gymnastics mat. He tugged at his clothes a little bit, and felt kind of out of place with them on. The clothes were a pair of gi; the same clothes that people in karate use. The area that Alex saw around him was a sealed off section of the gymnasium at New Edwards base. Wasn't much more than a boxed in section, but it was sound proof. Alex looked at his opponent on the mat. Hilde stood still as Alex took his steps on the mat.  
  
"I see you came."  
  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
  
Hilde shrugged. "No reason."  
  
'What was that about?' Alex put the thought the aside and took a deep breath. "So, are you ready?"  
  
"As ready as you are." Hilde got into a relaxed position with her arms raised a little bit up.  
  
Alex observed her stance, which had him confused. He had taken some martial arts courses when he was a child, if he remembered correctly he had failed them miserably. From the knowledge he had briefly gotten from those courses, he expected something around the lines of an offensive or defensive stance; she hadn't used either.  
  
"Are you going to attack, or shall I?"  
  
"I'll let you attack. Just to make things fair."  
  
Alex looked at her funny again. He got himself into an offensive position and was prime for an attack.  
  
'Letting me go first? Am I missing something here?'  
  
Alex ran a short distance and threw a punch to Hilde's stomach. Hilde leaned to one side and Alex's punch missed her.  
  
'What! It missed!'  
  
Hilde quickly grabbed Alex's arm and forcefully spun the arm. Alex flew in the air for a moment and crash landed on his back. His legs landed in a sit-up position and his left arm fell limp on the ground. Alex's eyes had the expression of pain in them. Hilde let go of Alex's right arm and smacked her hands together, like a victory had been obtained.  
  
"What do you have to say for yourself? An apology will be greatly appreciated."  
  
"I have no apologies." Alex said each word with pain and laid still. "I did make an observation, though. I realized that the painkillers have worn off."  
  
Hilde looked down at Alex more thoroughly and saw he was in pain. She had forgotten about the scars on his back, and almost smacked herself over the head for it. Hilde crouched down next to Alex's head.  
  
"You alright?"  
  
"Just dandy..." Alex tried to lift up a leg but it fell to the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry about this. I just wanted to show who is in charge here."  
  
"Message received..."  
  
"Good. Then, you won't question my authority again?"  
  
"I wasn't really trying to question your authority... I just was upset at what you said... Nothing else... really..."  
  
"You might be saying the truth, but…"  
  
"What are you going to say?"  
  
"Nevermind, I'll talk about that some other time." Hilde walked over to Alex's right side and lowered a hand. "Want some help getting back up?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex sat in a leather armchair in a small lounge. He stared at a glass of water in his hands and slowly raised it to his mouth. He glanced in front of him and saw Hilde in an armchair. Her empty glass sat on a small wooden table next to the chair.  
  
"Lumin, what do you think of this plan that the Colonel has come up with?"  
  
"Do you question it, Snow?"  
  
"I just asked for your opinion."  
  
"Well, I think it's a good idea. What about you?"  
  
"I don't think the idea is bad. It's the cover story I'm worried about. Does she really think that people won't catch on?"  
  
'She knows all too well, Alex. It's a shame I can't tell you the real reason.' Hilde decided to answer his question. "You never know."  
  
"People should know better, don't they?"  
  
"Only time will tell."  
  
Alex shook his head and got up as he took one final gulp of the water. He walked up to the door of the lounge.  
  
"I'm off to get some sleep. See you later."  
  
--Author's Notes--  
  
Alright, my motivation has been shot to hell.  
  
Forgive me if I misspelled the name of the karate clothes.  
  
Cya around. 


	10. Smuggler's Folly

*Disclaimer*  
  
Alright, legal junk.  
  
Copyrights- pieces of paper that some companies use to say they own something.  
  
Me- Don't have any copyrights to the gundam series.  
  
  
  
In other words, I don't own the gundam series and can't profit from this fiction. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 9- Smugglers' Folly  
  
Eizo sat in his chair, while he grimly stares at a wall. A nearly burnt out cigarette dangled in his right hand, and his arms hung low on the sides of the chair.  
  
'How can this be? How could they do such a thing?'  
  
The videophone next to him had a smeared image on the screen. "It is true. Koan is dead."  
  
The dark-grayed haired, old man hesitantly glanced at the videophone. "What happened exactly?"   
  
"He was killed by the smugglers, which we were hoping to use for supply routes in Europe."  
  
"Yasuo Suza. You know that this is a great blow to us, and can't allow such a thing to destroy our plans." He said in a delusional state.  
  
"You want them dead, I take it?"  
  
"Yes. Send one of your men to take care of them." A crooked grin appeared on his face. "Make them suffer."  
  
"I have a man on it already."  
  
"Excellent." The old man in the tuxedo said. "Yasuo, be careful. We're getting closer to the operation. We can't afford another slip up."  
  
"I am very well aware of that. This man is one of the best around. He will not fail."  
  
"That's what I want to hear."  
  
"I'll see you on Saturday, then."  
  
"See you then."  
  
The videophone cut off and Eizo brought up his cigarette to his mouth. He thought about smoking, but decided not to and snuffed out the cigarette.  
  
'Smoking is only good when there is joy in the air. Once the people who killed Koan are dead, I'll smoke again.'  
  
Eizo turned his chair around to face a portrait, and his mind wandered in thought.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"It's 645 hours. Wake up." Hilde stared down at Alex while he was wrapped up in his dark blue bed covering.  
  
"Five minutes. That's all I'm asking." Alex said and motioned with his right hand. "Five minutes."  
  
"We gave you five minutes five minutes ago."  
  
"Would you consider extending that loan, then?"  
  
"No! You're getting out of bed." Hilde grabbed Alex's covers and ripped them off of the bed. Alex tumbled to the ground face first.  
  
"You win... I'm getting up..." Alex lifted himself off the ground and glanced at Hilde and Toki, who was in the doorway.  
  
"You would think after three weeks, that you could at least had learned how to get out of bed in the morning." Toki commented as he left the doorway and went out into the hall.  
  
"I don't like this type of schedule..." Alex yawned and scratched the back of his neck. "Hilde, would you mind leaving, so I can change?"  
  
"We're on duty, Snow."  
  
"Ok. Lumin, would you mind leaving, so I can change?" Alex rolled his eyes. 'There is too much formality with this stuff. It's getting annoying.'  
  
"No problem. Please, don't get that way, though. Being formal once in awhile isn't bad." Hilde left the room and the door shut behind her.  
  
'Easy for you to say.' Alex thought as he headed over to the dresser.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Where are we going, again?"  
  
"Can't you remember for more than ten minutes?"  
  
"Yes I can. I just want this mission stats drilled into my head first."  
  
"Ok. We're going to Athens, Greece."  
  
"Where the Greek Empire used to be, right?"  
  
"That's right. Snow, pay attention to the rest, ok?"  
  
"Ok."  
  
"There is a report of arms smugglers in the area. These smugglers also have been reported to deal with mobile suit parts as well. We're going in there to take them in. Alive."  
  
"Why not send in a SWAT team, instead?"  
  
"It was handed to me directly from Colonel Une. I don't know her reasons, but she assured me that there will be a SWAT team to back us up there."  
  
"So why not let them in first?"  
  
"For the last time, I don't know."  
  
The brunette turned away from his team leader. 'Great. I'm going to die on the first mission.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Location: Athens, Greece  
  
An Old Warehouse on the Docks  
  
Date: 26, 6, AC-199  
  
Time: 11:00pm  
  
Shelves of wooden crates lined the dimly lit warehouse. In one of the aisles, a group of nine men huddled together and talked quietly. They had a variety of weapons; a rocket launcher, M-16's, and MP-5's were among them. Each person held their weapon respectively and treated them like they could go off on their own.  
  
"So, when do they arrive?"  
  
"Any minute now."  
  
"I can't believe the Preventors would be stupid enough to send in a small team to get us." The man with the rocket launcher laughed.  
  
"I know it is, but let's think of it this way. We can make an even bigger name for ourselves in the underground, when we do."  
  
"I'm up for that. Aren't you guys?" The rest of the group nodded.  
  
"Alright then, all we have to do now is get into positions, and wait for Boris' signal."  
  
A small thump silently echoed through the warehouse and the men scattered to their positions.  
  
The men began to speak quietly. "Do you think that was Boris?"  
  
"That isn't his signal, though."  
  
"It has to be Boris. Who else could it be?"  
  
"What about the Preventors?"  
  
"No. We would have heard gunfire."  
  
"Would you guys be quiet?" The leader of the group asserted and began to walk down the dimly lit aisle. "I'll go check it out." The man held his M-16 still as he walked down the aisle. A soft noise could be heard. It sounded like something that swayed, but he wasn't sure; there were only dim shadows in the pitch black. As he crept down the aisle, the noise lingered on, and grew a louder with each step as though he was getting closer. 'Am I the only one hearing this?' An old floorboard creaked under weight from virtually in front of him.  
  
"Who is there! Show yourself." No response came, except from one of his group who said "You said we should be quiet...."  
  
"Shut up!" The man calmed down a bit and continued a little further down. 'This damn darkness, I can barely see. I know it's the element of surprise that's important here, but still I need to see.' Something small brushed up against the top of his head, and he reached up to see what it was. 'Good, a light switch.' He gazed upward as he turned on the light, and continued this gaze for a few moments. The man looked down from the light and saw a horrible sight.  
  
In front of him, a blood-soaked face stared back at the leader with a mortified expression. The black suit had huge bloodstains, which ran down the length of the body. A shiny metal thread held the body off the ground by the neck and disappeared into the darkness above.  
  
The leader recognized the blood-soaked, hung man almost immediately. "Boris!" He shouted as he turned away from the body, feeling sick.  
  
A gunshot rang out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Location: One of the Side Doors of the Warehouse the Smugglers were in  
  
Time: 11:00pm  
  
Alex crouched by the door and patiently stayed there. He had full body armor on with a strange device on his forehead; if he remembered correctly, it was called night vision, or something of the like. He also carried a small caliber pistol, so that he could move fast through the area when needed and still have firepower. There was a microphone that wrapped around his head, and a camera was attached to the base of the microphone, as well. He glanced across the doorway and saw Hilde decked out in the same stuff as him. She was primed and ready to go with her gun pointed at the door. Alex looked away from the door and saw the SWAT team in position to cover them. A further distance away was a white van with an antenna that stuck out the top.  
  
Alex looked back to Hilde. "Wanna bet Toki is enjoying himself in that van?" The brown haired pilot chuckled a little bit.  
  
"He doesn't have to lay a finger down."  
  
"Hey! I heard that!" Toki's voice rang over the speakers in their microphones. "I've a lot of work to do with this van! Thank you so very much!"  
  
"How did you hear that?" The blue eyed pilot eyes widened.  
  
"Simple, it's called a voice activated microphone." Alex made a bash gesture on his head. "Anyway, you will be going in two minutes. Be ready."  
  
'Easy for him to say, we're the ones that will be facing the weapons. Not him.' Alex snapped out of his thought as he heard a gun shot from inside.  
  
"What's going on?" Hilde said as she put her head up against the wall. Several more gunshots rang out.  
  
"Lumin, was there another group sent here?"  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
"I'm not sure if we should go in there then."  
  
"Snow, we have no choice. We have to take them in."  
  
"I know that, but we shouldn't go into the middle of a gun fight for the hell of it!"  
  
"We're not going into a gun fight!"  
  
"Would you two stop arguing." Toki said over the radio. "We need to investigate. Go in there now."  
  
Alex solemnly acknowledged Toki's request and looked at the door. Hilde prepared herself to knock down the door when she realized something; there weren't any more gunshots. 'Something has happened. Crap.' Hilde kicked in the door and it swung up against the wall of the warehouse. The sound echoed through the warehouse, but nothing responded. Alex moved himself in front of the door with his pistol pointed inside, and Hilde came up behind him to cover the upper section of the door. Alex stepped forward into the warehouse with Hilde close behind him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex aimlessly walked in the darkness of the warehouse with his pistol in hand. He barely saw his hand as he held up his gun, let alone the SWAT team and Hilde. He had somehow lost track of them, even with the light that came from the door he had came from.  
  
'Shit. I'm lost.' Alex began to think of some way to find the others. Then an obvious thought occurred to him. "Toki. Do you hear me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm kind of lost."  
  
"I figured as much."  
  
"Great. Lumin is already chewing me out for this?" The armor-covered Alex commented.  
  
"I heard that!" Hilde blasted over the radio. "If you had put on your night vision like you were suppose to, you wouldn't be in this situation... I just found something."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's a hung body. What the hell happened here?!"  
  
"What do you mean hung?" Alex stepped back not exactly sure what to say next.  
  
"There is some metal string wrapped around the neck..."  
  
"Lumin, please don't go into any more detail. My stomach is weak." Toki commented. "Besides I have a clear view of it..."  
  
"I forgot you have a camera view."  
  
Alex stood by and heard their conversation as it continued. He didn't really care for the conversation, because he was more concerned that he was lost. Alex had to find his way back, except time slipped away a little bit as he thought.  
  
"We have eight more dead bodies here. Great."  
  
"Did they fire a single shot?"  
  
"Not sure, I can barely smell gun powder in the air."  
  
"Maybe there was a mutiny."  
  
"Maybe. I doubt it. I think someone beat us here."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Not sure. Snow, what do you think?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Snow."  
  
No response.  
  
"Snow! Pay attention!"  
  
Alex's mind came back to reality. "Sorry. What was that again?"  
  
"Do you think someone beat us here?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't know if they were still here though. I mean, I can barely see."  
  
"Snow. It's called night vision. Use it." Toki chuckled over the radio.  
  
Alex slipped the night vision over his eyes and saw a green screen. "Ok. So now I see green instead of black. Thanks a lot."  
  
"Just keep it on, Snow. You should be able to find us now."  
  
"Ok." Alex let out a sigh.  
  
Alex took a step forward and then heard something. It sounded like a human in distress.  
  
"I hear something."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
Alex continued forward with the green screen in his eyes. He could hear it more clearly, but wasn't able to make out anything. Alex made more progress through the warehouse until he saw a man that stood in front of a six-foot window, which some moonlight shined through. From Alex's sight from behind a shelf of boxes, the man appeared to be panicked, but he didn't know why.  
  
"I told you everything I know... I don't know anything about that guy you're talking about... I swear I don't..."  
  
Alex eyed him oddly. 'Who is that guy talking to, himself?'  
  
"Just let me go... I beg of you... I won't tell anyone of this... I swear..."  
  
Alex looked to the left and the right, but didn't see anyone.  
  
"Guys. I'm not sure what I have, but I'm seeing some guy panicked out of his mind here." Alex quietly said into his microphone.  
  
"Is it one of the smugglers?"  
  
"I'm not sure..."  
  
Alex continued to look at the man with increased concern.  
  
The man backed himself closer to the window as a gun came into sight, but the person that held the gun was obscured by some darkness. "It's you! It can't be you... You were nothing but a whisper in the old days... But, you were killed..." A gunshot rang out and blood flew from between the man's eyes.  
  
Alex cringed as he saw the shot hit the head, and looked away as he heard a splash sound. When he finally looked back, the window was scattered and there was no sign of the man or the person who shot him.  
  
"What happened over there, Snow? We heard a gun shot."  
  
"The man is dead."  
  
"Great… There goes the mission. Where are you, Snow? We'll group up with you."  
  
"Which ever side of warehouse has direct access to a large body of water... except I need to make sure it's clear here."  
  
"Snow, don't do anything until we get there."  
  
Alex ignored the order and pushed some boxes out of the way. He crawled through the shelf and got to area where the man had been killed.  
  
"Snow, you're not following direct orders." Toki commented.  
  
"He is what!"  
  
Alex slowly approached the broken window with his gun held up.  
  
"Snow, get away from there."  
  
"What is he doing Toki?"  
  
"He isn't staying in position..."  
  
Alex stopped just short of the window and turned his head to scan the area, but saw no one in sight. He reached up and pulled off the night vision from his face.  
  
"Snow! What the hell do you think you are doing?!"  
  
'Useless piece of junk.' Alex threw the night vision to the ground and kept his eye out for anything. "Whoever killed off these smugglers, show yourself. Now!"  
  
No one responded to Alex's call. Alex kept his guard up and braced his right foot up against the wall.  
  
"Show yourself now! Damnit!"  
  
The last thing Alex saw was an elbow about to smash into his face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex opened his eyes and saw a blurred figure that stood over him.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
The figure became clear to Alex, and it was Hilde. Alex tried to respond, except he gargled, instead. Hilde rolled him to his side and Alex spat out the water. He then realized that he was in sand, 'a beach no less'.  
  
Alex managed to get the words "What happened?" under his coughs.  
  
"We found you in the bay, next to our tenth corpse."  
  
"Must have been a sight..." Alex coughed some more.  
  
"We recovered all the bodies. Most died of gun shot wounds. One died by strangulation, and another by a knife puncture wound in the throat."  
  
"Glad I wasn't there." Alex sarcastically said as he continued to cough.  
  
"It was a gruesome sight, but at least we're still alive."  
  
"I guess so... What about the one guy? You know the guy that killed the last guy practically in front of me."  
  
"We did a thorough search of the warehouse, and nearby buildings. We found nothing of the shooter."  
  
"Figures…" Alex tried to get back up, but something stopped him. "Damnit..." He felt a sharp pain in his back, worse than anything else he had expressed before. "Is there anyone nearby?"  
  
"Not at this time."  
  
"Good..." Alex began to cry in pain. "I can't take this back much longer."  
  
"The scars?"  
  
"Yeah. I've had them for so long to remember what I did... But, now I can't it anymore. The water soaked shirt is leeching to it. It's too much to bear. Please get me up off the ground."  
  
Hilde lifted Alex up from the ground, and assisted him from the beach.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Eizo stared at his videophone as he awaited word of the agent's success or failure. The videophone finally lit up and the old man activated it.  
  
"Eizo. I'm surprised to see you up at this hour. I was expecting an answering machine."  
  
"Some things come before sleep." The gray-haired man rubbed his eyes. "So, which is it? Success or failure?"  
  
"A complete success."  
  
"Excellent." He let out devilish grin as he let down his arm.  
  
"This man isn't the best for no reason."  
  
"I see that. What is his working name, again? I forgot."  
  
"His name is Silent Wind."  
  
"Right. I'll remember that next time. Give him my thanks for a job well done."  
  
"I will."  
  
"But, Koan's death was a set back. There will be another month needed to make up for it. Complications may arise from this delay."  
  
"What kind of complications?"  
  
"Ones that require favors from your man." 


	11. Clash by the Shore

**Disclaimer**  
  
All right, here comes the legal mumbo jumbo. Gundam is owned by the Bandai Co. so I can't profit from this venture. Nor will anyone else. Or heads will roll.. I mean it.  
  
Chapter 10- Clash by the Shore  
  
The blonde-haired pilot calmly sat as he watched trees pass by the flatbed truck. I wonder if this entire planet is this beautiful. Orza looked at the driver, and the man was focused on his driving.  
  
"When do we arrive at our target?" "It should be about twenty kilometers down the road." "Oh good. We're ahead of schedule." A slight grin appeared on his face. Hopefully none of my missiles will go astray.  
  
His red eyes looked in awe at the trees as they went further down the road.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex opened the door to the conference room and saw Hilde, Toki, and the fair-haired Lady Une as they waited for him.  
The brunette yawned. "Alright. What's so important that it requires me to wake up at 6:00AM in the morning?" He staggered to his seat with a hand over his mouth.  
"It's been a month since your team's raid on that warehouse."  
"Yeah, so?"  
"For that month this team has had a break."  
The gray-haired technician looked over at his leader. Here I thought we were in a slow spell. I wonder if anything happened.  
"For that reason I haven't brought up this assignment."  
"What's that?"  
Lady Une reached down and pulled out three files from her briefcase. Each file had the word 'Urgent' in red on the front. She laid the files down on the table. "Three earth facilities were destroyed this past month."  
"Could have been the work of terrorists. Doesn't require us."  
"All three were destroyed by mobile suits, and were lead by this mobile suit." The Colonel opened up one of the files, and a picture of a blue mobile suit with spheroid shoulders was at the top of the file. Alex recognized it as the same suit as the one from San Jose. "What do you want us to do about it?" "You're going to stop this mobile suit."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Location: Caspian Lowlands Oil Refinery. Date: 28, 7, AC-199. Time: 2:55PM.  
  
Oil has been a top business in the Middle East for many years, and, soon after the last battle that White Fang fought, more oil had been discovered in region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. This refinery was of moderate size, but has managed to pump a tremendous amount of oil for businesses on earth and in space.  
On the outskirts of the lowlands, five mobile suits approached the refinery. The group was comprised of three Virgos, one Taurus, and the blue mobile suit, Flugtod. The Taurus flew ahead of the group, and the Virgos marched forward toward the refinery. Flugtod halted and watched the mobile suits approach the refinery.  
"Level this refinery. Leave nothing standing." The red-eyed pilot said to his men over a communication link.  
Orza looked on as his comrades began to make quick work of the refinery. Explosions engulfed oil processors, pipelines burst out with flames, and the main building began to crumble. Though these events would please his objectives, Orza saw something wrong with the place. The explosions are too small. There is next to no oil in this refinery. Orza maneuvered his main camera around and spotted what looked like a train on the horizon. Thought so, they knew we were coming. Did too good of a job on the past few places.  
Flugtod charged after the distant train, and left the other mobile suits behind.  
"Sir, what you doing?"  
"Meet up at the rendezvous after taking the rest of that refinery out. I'll meet you there, later."  
"Yes sir." The link went dead.  
Flugtod continued toward the train, and gained ground on it. Did they really expect to get away?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex sat horizontally in his seat with only the light from his console to keep him company, while the screen in front of him was completely black. The blue-eyed pilot reached forward and a communication link to Hilde appeared.  
"I can't believe this plan."  
"Believe it. It's better that way."  
"No. I mean, this is a crazy idea. Using a refinery as a decoy, while we are stuck here waiting for God knows what." He bickered. "I bet they won't come to that refinery in the first place."  
"For one, it's not a crazy plan. Secondly, Toki just reported that our guests have arrived."  
"Oh. Well then, I guess I'll be quiet now."  
"Good idea."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Flugtod landed on top of the last car of the train. It's camera focused on the car it was on, and saw that the car supported the weight of the suit easily. Orza glared at his screen, I should have known. This isn't a train from the refinery. What is it, though?  
A view of the Black Sea shined on the train as the blue mobile suit slowly made its way up the train, walking over several cars along the way. Orza grew more concerned with each step; there was something wrong with the train to him, but he couldn't figure out what it was.  
Finally, Flugtod reached a car that had the Preventors logo on top.  
"This thing is a mobile suit transporter. Shit."  
A loud whooshing noise erupted from behind Flugtod, and the blue mobile suit turned around. The camera lens stared down the barrel of a Taurus beam rifle. There is only a Taurus? This is too easy. Flugtod knocked back the beam rifle, and began to punch the Taurus. Except, the right arm of Flugtod wouldn't bung. Orza forced his joystick, but the right arm still wouldn't move. What the hell? Flugtod was shoved off of the train and tumbled its way down to the Black Sea. After it came to a halt, the blue mobile suit rose up from the muddy water into a standing position, and looked back up toward the tracks. It caught sight of a blue, tan mobile suit as it walked down the slope toward the large body of water. "It can't be!" Orza stared at the mobile suit and was outraged. "They rebuilt that mobile suit. How dare them!" He grinded his teeth together.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex looked ominously at Flugtod as it waded in the water. I was just lucky, that's all. He has a numerical superiority to me in ammo. One wrong move, I'm dead.  
"Snow, what you doing?"  
No response.  
"Don't go head long at him."  
No response.  
"Snow! ."  
"I have to make this guy pay for what he did at San Jose, and along with that one colony. Lumin, please stay out of this. This doesn't involve you anymore."  
"What did you say?"  
"You heard me." Alex killed the link. Well, here goes nothing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Orza grew more disgusted at the suit with each step it took. Those bastards, it's bad enough that they dishonor my cousin by rebuilding that thing. But, that antenna is awful looking. They could have at least done something better with it. Another thought came to him. They replaced him.  
The mobile suit ignited a green beam saber as it continued to come closer.  
They think that some replacement can fill his place. Well then, I'll show them a thing or two.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Flugtod flew away from Icedig and began to head west across the sea. Icedig blasted off in hot pursuit. Hilde's Taurus just stood there as the two mobile suits disappeared into the distance. How could you be this foolhardy, Alex? Hilde stared at her screen and radar in disbelief. "Toki, are you there?" "Yes." "Do you have a lock on those mobile suits?" "Of course, it's part of procedure." "Good." The Taurus took off after them.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Several hours went by as the Icedig and Flugtod mobile suits fought a cat and mouse battle over land and seas. Flugtod flew so close to cliffs that it scraped them at times. Icedig kept up its pursuit with its beam saber grip in hand.  
Alex stared at the blue mobile suit while at the same took in the sights of his surroundings; which consisted of the Mediterranean Sea, beautiful forests, and cliffs. "If it weren't for this battle, I'll probably would stop and enjoy this place. Oh well, back to the chase."  
Orza panicked more as each minute passed by. "This guy isn't letting up. Missiles just keep missing him, and my evasive maneuvers don't shake him. Who the hell is this guy!?" The blonde-haired pilot looked for anything that would aid him, and his cameras finally spotted something useful; tell tale signs of a beach.  
Flugtod approached the beach faster and faster with Icedig not too far behind. As soon as Flugtod reached the outskirts of the beach, the blue mobile suit did a 180-degree turn. Icedig didn't expect this move, and desperately tried to stop in mid-air. Flugtod dodged to the right while simultaneously fired two volleys of missiles at Icedig.  
"Take this!"  
The missiles mercilessly nailed Icedig, and it plummeted to the water below. Flugtod gently lowered itself to the ground as it watched Icedig make a twenty-meter splash in the water.  
"Serves him right. No one can be replaced. Especially my cousin." The red-eyed teen smirked at the sight of the waves dissipating. "But, to make sure." Two aiming sights appeared on the screen in front of him, and positioned themselves over the area where Icedig had crashed. "Enjoy." Two waves of missiles approached the sights and disappeared into the water. The water and sand exploded and left a fine drizzle on the outside of the screen. Orza smiled and laughed. "That was for my cousin. Rot in hell, now."  
Flugtod turned around and began to walk up the beach. To Orza's amusement, there was a city by this beach. Not a very impressive city, but more along the lines of rustic; if there is such a thing with cities. "Where am I?" Suddenly, something popped on his radar.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hilde watched as she achieved the element of surprise on Flugtod. "Forgot about me, huh?"  
The Taurus swooped down toward Flugtod and fired several shots at the blue suit. The beam rifle shots hit their target, but the blue mobile suit was unfazed by them.  
"What is that thing made out of?"  
Hilde's Taurus landed on the ground a good distance from Flugtod, but then something dawned on her.  
"Where is Snow at?" The dark blue pilot scanned the surrounding area, but got nothing. "Oh great, he just up and vanished."  
The Taurus refocused on Flugtod, and found the blue mobile suit was on top of it. Flugtod smashed the front side of the Taurus with its left arm, and sent the Taurus reeling back. The Taurus came to rest after a forty-meter skid on the beach.  
Hilde got jolted around the cockpit as her Taurus crashed. "Dang it." She grabbed her head to feel for bruises, but her attention soon went back to the blue mobile suit.  
The Flugtod's shoulders began to have black holes appear, and the tips of missiles appeared from the holes.  
"Oh no." Hilde desperately tried to get the Taurus back to its feet, but it was too late. Flugtod fired a wave of missiles from both shoulders, and there was nothing Hilde could do but watch.  
Out of nowhere, Icedig got in between the missiles and the Taurus. With its arms seemingly crossed to protect its cockpit, the blue, tan mobile suit took the force of the missiles. The explosions forced the cyclops back several meters, but had no visible damage from Hilde's view.  
"Thank you, Alex."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As the smoke cleared, Icedig still had its arms crossed, but damage was very clear. Most of the joints sparked electricity, and the main armor of the suit was heavily dented. The arms barely functioned, and appeared to have been fused into position. Orza stared in disbelief at Icedig. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but one thought did cross his mind. I thought I killed that guy. Darn it, the Preventors must have made it stronger than it used to be. No matter, though. I'll still destroy it.  
Flugtod fired several more waves at Icedig, but, when the smoke cleared each time, the mobile suit was still stood with ever increasing damage.  
I'll give this guy credit. He has guts, but he is very stupid for doing so. Orza held off the urge for another wave of missiles and reached over to his communication button. Let's see what this guy looks like before I kill him.  
He opened a communication link to the crippled Icedig. "Nice job, soldier boy. It's a shame." The red-eyed pilot looked at the blue-eyed pilot of Icedig. Alex had some cuts on his face, and was breathing heavily. Orza looked haplessly at his cousin. Alex.  
Flugtod turned around and flew as fast as it could away from the two.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hilde breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Flugtod retreating. "That was close."  
Her Taurus stood up and she approached the battle scarred Icedig. The Taurus landed its left hand on Icedig's right shoulder, and finally she saw the full extent of the damage. There was hardly anything left of the arms, and the front side seemed to have lost almost all of its armor.  
Icedig's head slowly turned toward the Taurus, and a communication link popped up in the cockpit.  
"So. what was it you were saying about me disobeying orders."  
"Don't do it again."  
"Right, I wished I had remembered that sooner."  
The communication link snowed up.  
Icedig's right shoulder fell off, and fell to the ground. The left leg joint ruptured, and Icedig collapsed to the beach below. 


	12. Assassination Attempt

Chapter 11- Assassination Attempt  
  
**Disclaimer** I don't own Gundam Wing, so I can't profit from this. On top of this...  
  
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah  
  
That in a nutshell is the legal stuff on with the chapter.  
  
Got the thing to work. Woohoo... ctrl +tab is a life saver.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
What's going on? ... I see double for some reason...  
"Snap out of it!" Slap! The brown haired pilot rubbed his hands on his face where a red mark in the shape of a hand had formed. He looked at his leader and glared. "What was that for?"  
"To get you to wake up."  
"It wasn't necessary."  
"Yes it was. Don't argue with it."  
"It still hurts..." Alex continued to rub his face and looked at his arm. The sleeves of the Preventor jacket were partially burnt off, and the zipper was torn off. Great... I wonder how much this will cost to fix. As the glance passes by the zipper, he saw that his khakis were scuffed up with some of the pants buried under sand.  
"You know the saying 'No pain, No gain.'" Alex death-glared Hilde after she said that. "Don't look at me that way. You were the one who went off on a Rambo mission. Completely disobeying the operation perimeters."  
"I'm sorry already!" Alex painstakingly rose up. Whoa... I'm more tired than I thought.  
"A sorry isn't good enough!"  
"Well, excuse me. I wasn't trying to get you involved!" The brown haired pilot pulled off the left side of his jacket, and let the right side fall off.  
"What do you mean?"  
"That mobile suit used to belong to the people that captured me. I vaguely remember the pilot, but that suit I won't forget. It managed to pin down Icedig, the last time I faced off with it. I wouldn't allow a Taurus to get close enough to it. That's why! Call me what you will, but at least I probably saved you twice against that suit! So sue me, if you want! I don't care!"  
The dark-blue pilot blankly stared at him. "Well..." Then, something caught her eye. "Alex! Watch out!"  
"Wha ..."  
A sharp pain ran through his neck. The next moment, his eyes rolled up and his helpless body collapsed to the ground.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hilde was horrified as her comrade plummeted to the sand below. She had seen a man dash up and karate chopped Alex right in the neck. Her eyes were glued to Alex, while she pulled out her pistol. The pistol had hardly been raised to shoulder height, when the attacker kicked the gun out of her hand. He then forced her down to the ground with a swift back kick to her legs. The next thing the dark-blue haired pilot saw was a gun pointed in her head.  
"Identify yourself, or die."  
"The same with you." This skirmish went so fast that she barely got sight of the person, but now on the ground she had a distorted view of him. The man had short black hair with a hint middle age on his face.  
"Identify yourself, or else." The hammer of the gun was cocked.  
"I am Preventor Lumin. I work for the..."  
"A Preventor, huh?" The hammer slowly moved forward, but the gun didn't fire. "You don't have their uniform."  
"Me and my partner are in a special team. We don't wear the same stuff." The man turned his head toward the unconscious Alex. "I take it, he is your partner?"  
"That is correct."  
"Show your verification." She motioned toward to her front left pocket, as the gun kept its target. The man crouched down and grabbed Hilde's ID card. The man skimmed over the ID card, front and back. He gently placed the card back into the pocket and holstered his gun. His right hand gently lifted Hilde back to standing position. "It's real. I apologize for causing you and your friend trouble."  
"Trouble? My friend is unconscious and that is all you say that. How dare you!"  
The emerald-eyed man stared back at her without a care. "I had to make sure that this wasn't an assassination plot against my client."  
"What did you say?"  
"I'm a bodyguard." A slim figure approached from further up the beach, but neither of the two saw this person.  
"What would make mobile suits an avenue for an assassination plot, anyway?"  
"It's because my client is against the use of them. It would be ironic if she were to be killed by one, and I take great care to not let that happen."  
Man this guy is some sort of nutcase. He has to be lying, I mean seriously.... Lumin cautiously observed him and kept her guard up. "Who would need such protection?"  
The slim figure continued to approach the two of them. The figure had dirty blonde hair to her waistline, and a white formal suit, similar to that of dignitaries.  
"The vice foreign minister."  
"You mean..." Hilde's mouth almost dropped. Don't tell me we landed in the Sank Kingdom?! I should have been paying attention to where we were heading.  
Relena reached the two of them on the beach and looked at the smoldering-carcass of Icedig, as it laid partially buried in the beach. She slowly turned to look at the Taurus next to the wreck, and then stared at the Preventor and the bodyguard. Her glance came to Alex as he laid face first in the beach.  
"That's right, Relena Dorlain is my client."  
The mention of that name left Hilde breathless. She hadn't seen Relena since she had left Battleship Libra, almost four years ago.  
"You over did yourself." Relena's voice loomed over the two, and they turned toward the voice. "Diel, next time, don't try to kill everyone."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The elderly, gray-haired Eizo grimly leaned back in his chair and exhaled a puff of smoke. His right arm slowly lowered to the height of his chair's arm. The videophone on his desk had static all over the screen.  
"Yasuo, you heard what Orza said?" The old man glared up at the ceiling.  
"Every word of it."  
"This isn't something I wanted to hear. Not at all."  
"I know. I thought he was dead as well."  
"Damn Ito! Why didn't you kill him like you said you would?!" A vein grew on his forehead, and the cigarette in his right hand snapped in two.  
"Don't get worked up like that. Your health isn't good, remember?"  
The old man cooled himself down, and looked back at the videophone. "I'm very well aware of my health, thank you." The sarcasm behind those words was hard to miss.  
"I didn't want you to die on me. Not this close."  
"It just concerns me that 235 is still alive. He is a big threat to this plan."  
"Yes, and no doubt the Preventors are having suspicions about this colony as well. I'm guessing they rescued him to use him against us. Even the Preventors aren't stupid enough to waste such a weapon." The speaker stopped as though to think of what to say next.  
"Do you know the philosophy about weapons falling into enemy hands?"  
"Destroy 235? But... We could still..."  
"NO! He is too dangerous to risk such a strategy again. It cost us our only battleship, one council member, and along with an army. I refuse to make that mistake again."  
No response from the other side.  
"I want him dead. Do you understand me? Dead!"  
"Ok. How do you want it done?"  
"Silent Wind should be perfect for this operation."  
"He is still doing you that favor."  
"Oh yes, I forgot... then send out another of your men. I don't care who, as long as 235 dies."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"What happened exactly?" The vice foreign minister sat back in her armchair with a cup of tea on a French style table in front of her.  
The dark-blue haired Lumin sat in an armchair across the table. "We were assigned to take out a blue mobile suit that had been taking out facilities in Europe and Asia. We successfully pulled off a surprise attack in the Caspian lowlands."  
"How did you get here then?"  
"Well... Preventor Snow took it upon himself to take on this blue mobile suit. It then became a chase through the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Which then ended on the Sank kingdom's beach. If I had known that we would have gotten here, I would have had Snow cut off the chase..."  
"No one was harmed during the battle, but it would have been nice to have known of the presence of mobile suits in the area. There could have people there."  
"I know, and I apologize for that. I will have a talk with Preventor Snow."  
"Who is this Preventor Snow? I didn't recognize him on the beach."  
"I can't tell you that information at this time." Relena stared her with a semi-serious look that would make anyone change anyone's mind. Hilde's right hand came up and covered part of her face as a sign of compliance along with frustration. "His name is Alex Cros. That's all I can say."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex opened his eyes and saw nothing but white in front of him. "GAH! I've died and gone to heaven..."  
"Not quite."  
"Huh?" The white bed sheet in front of his face flew off and a pair of emerald eyes stared emotionless back at the aqua blue eyes. This man dressed in semi-casual clothes with a maroon shirt, and military fatigue pants on. Black hair shimmered from the sunlight that poured into the room.  
"I apologize for what happened back on the beach." The man didn't do any head gestures as he said that.  
"What... beach..." The nineteen year old tried to move himself up, but felt a sharp pain his neck. The pain stopped him cold. "Let me guess..."  
"You were lucky I didn't kill you. A fraction of an inch off, and you wouldn't be alive. Instead, you are partially paralyzed."  
"PARALYZED?!"  
A slight, hollow chuckle came from the man. "It's only temporary. Henderson."  
The teen let out a heavy sigh of relief, then his eyes shot wide open. "Henderson? ... Why did you call me that? ..."  
  
~~~flashback~~~  
  
"You might be right about that kid." The man rested his glass on the bar. "Anyways, the name is Diel Wints."  
"Alex ... Henderson." Alex reached up to shake Diel's hand.  
Diel shook Alex's hand. "Alright, 'Henderson'." Diel got up, "See around kid." He walked away and vanished into the crowd.  
'Odd guy,' Alex thought.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Diel Wints?"  
"Yep."  
"Oh... um... I guess I'm the one to be..."  
"You don't have to apologize to me. I understand." The man got up off his chair. "Kids your age will lie on the spot to hide emotions. It's a simple fact."  
"I'm still..."  
"No need. Besides, you have other matters to deal with." Diel slowly headed to the closed door.  
"What do you mean, 'other matters'?"  
"Two of them. One is your leader, and the other is some technician." Diel started to turn the knob.  
Not them... not now.... Alex panicked and tried to move his body, but only his head rolled side to side. "Stupid paralysis.... Don't tell them I've woken up. Please?"  
"Too late for that." The black haired man opened the door, and two people were on the other side. "The pilot awaits you. Excuse me, I have business to attend to."  
Diel bumped into Toki on his way out of the room. Toki got pushed back in a wall as the bodyguard passed by.  
"Sorry... If I'm in the way..." Toki glared at the man as he continued down the hall. "What is your problem?!" He got no response. The guy is out right ignoring me... wonderful.  
The grayed-haired technician lost sight of Diel as he turned around a corner. He let a sigh and turned around to face his team leader. But, she was already in the room. "Taking care of business again, I see..." He put his arms behind his head and walked into the room.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A lush forest darkened the east side of the building that Alex was bed ridden in. Deer roamed around the forest on in search of ferns, and frogs leapt around for flies or other insects to eat. A green frog (with brown spots) landed on a mossy rock. It slowly wobbled up the rock as it gazed down the edge of the forest toward the building. It wobbled more up the rock as it looked around for insects. Its webbed feet slipped on the vertical edge of the rock, and plunged into a hollow area under the rock. The frog got back up to its feet and saw that the rock was nothing more than a aluminum framing with camouflage material on it. The panicked as it saw a hand swooped down at it. The poor frog fled in terror out of the hole it entered as it passed up the camouflaged barrel of an AWP sniper rifle.  
A voice grumbled from under the rock, "Stupid frog...."  
The man underneath the fake rock blended in with the darkness under the structure with the use of several camouflage paints on his face, and several layers of camouflage fatigue on the rest of his body.  
After the frog had made its frantic escape, the sniper turned his attention back to his scope.  
A crosshair with a red dot at the center of the scope focused on a brown-haired, bed-ridden person with the window frame on the side of the scope. The window itself produced some glare, but this didn't faze the man. He continued to focus on the bed-riddened man, and other people in the room; one being a dark blue-haired, nineteen year old female Preventor and another is a gray-haired, eighteen male year old who were right by the bed. Both of these people were yelling, one way or another, at the bed- riddened man  
This is getting frustrating. ... First that black-haired man walks in as I arrive, and now this. ... Why can't people just leave this guy alone long enough, so I can make a shot and get out of here without being noticed....  
  
For the next twenty minutes, the camouflaged man continued his vigil as the people continued to argue down in the room. The man's frustration only went up as the minutes wore on, but kept up his observations of the people.  
  
Why don't these people just leave him!... Great.  
  
The dark-blue haired Preventor began to leave and gestured for the other male to come with her.  
This is it.... The crosshair refocused back on Alex's head. It's nothing personal, just another assignment.  
The right index finger began to tighten against the trigger. He took one breath and began to pull the trigger back. Suddenly, light shined in his face and released the trigger while he glanced up. The camouflaged rock was gone, and sunlight had poured in.  
What the hell!  
A sharp pain came from his stomach as he tumbled to the right of his position. A black boot swooped down at his face, and the sniper managed to log roll out of the way. He stopped against a tree and jumped up into a defensive fighting stance. The camouflaged man didn't know what had hit him, and worse yet, as he frantically glanced around the immediate area, his assailant had disappeared out of sight.  
Nothing but trees... A shadow moved just beyond some trees to his left. What's going on here? ...  
A sudden movement in some nearby shrubbery alerted the sniper, and he turned to face it. Just as a man, dressed in a black spandex outfit, black trench coat, and black veil on his face, jumped out from behind the shrubbery and charged him; the sniper braced himself. The man dressed in black threw a right-handed head shot punch, but the sniper leaned back and below to dodge it. He then tried to knee kick the black man, and this missed as well. The black man threw a left hook, which the sniper easily dodged, but this time there was a weakness in the attack.  
Bingo.  
Not wasting any opportunity in front of him, the sniper delivered a hard upper cut to the other man's stomach. The black man rose off of the ground along with the veil, and underneath the veil was a ski mask with a bloodstain from the mouth area and out. Enough blood filled the stained area that some of it oozed out of the ski mask. As soon as the black covered man landed back on the ground, the sniper decked him across the face and sent him down a small hill.  
The man tumbled helpless as he crashed into rocks and other forest debris. A little ways down, a light reflected off a Desert Eagle as it was flung off of the tumbling man. After several seconds of helpless tumbles, the man came to a stop at the base of a moderate tree, and laid face first in some dirt.  
The sniper finally had some time to grasp a hold of the situation, and glanced down at the man who attacked him. The black trench coat and the veil reminded him of someone from his group, and it finally came to him who it was.  
"Silent Wind."  
The sniper cautiously began to descend toward Silent Wind. Silent Wind wasn't about to move from the looks of it, he noticed.  
"Why in the hell did you try to interfere with my assignment?"  
Silent Wind still didn't bung.  
"Now that I think of it, don't you have your own assignment?" He gazed down at the man's motionless body as he continued to descend. "Now I get it. You were interfering to show me up? Huh? An old man knows better than this young sprite? Nothing more than an egotistical, old man."  
The camouflaged man looked down at his feet and saw the Desert Eagle that had been dropped. He reached and grabbed with some humph behind it. The gun was heavy, heavier than he had expected, but still managed to point it toward Silent Wind.  
"What's even more ironic, is that Yasuo's best man was defeated by his best sniper without a rifle. Don't you find that funny?"  
No response.  
"Guess not."  
He eyed the pointer of the gun at Silent Wind's head, and pulled the trigger. The hammer cocked back, but only made a click sound. He examined the gun real quick and saw the safety was still on.  
"Silly me. Let's try that again."  
He lined up the shot again, and pulled the trigger. Again the gun made a click sound, and this time he frantically pulled the trigger.  
"What the?!"  
He turned the gun away from Silent Wind and pulled back the barrel of the Desert Eagle. The barrel was released back into its starting position, but still nothing. His glance turned to the handle of the gun as he tried to find a fail-safe device on it. There was only one little button on it near the butt of the handle. Seeing as it was the only thing that might solve this mystery, he pressed button and the ammo clip was released from its lock. The man pulled out the clip and looked at it. A shock came over his face.  
There are no bullets in this gun. As the shock settled in, his face went pale as he looked back at the man he thought he had defeated. Silent Wind had his right arm on the ground to give him balance, and in the left hand was his second Desert Eagle pointed straight at him. The veil dangled with almost the look of a demon as the man stared in horror. A second gun... crap...  
Silent Wind fired a single shot and violently sent the sniper to the ground.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Oh my gosh..."  
Hilde could barely believe the sight in front of her as crouched slightly up a hill and overlooked a swarm of soldiers at work. An AWP sniper rifle pointed straight at Alex's bed with a fake rock jumbled next to it. She looked over at where some soldiers were carrying up a body bag, and then back down to the forest.  
This doesn't make any sense to me. Why was this pointed at Alex's room... Unless.... No, that can't be.  
As several soldiers surveyed the surround area for any evidence, Lumin spotted a middle-aged man as he feverishly ran up the trail. He pushed some soldiers aside and managed to get to the main area of the search. It was Relena's bodyguard, Diel, dressed in a typical bodyguard outfit.  
"What happened here!? I came as soon as I heard."  
"Diel, there was an assassination attempt." Hilde walked down the hill and met up with Diel.  
"What?" The man had a trace of panic in his face.  
This didn't surprise her though; she had learned that Diel had once been Heero Yuy's bodyguard from Relena's documents. This must be flooding his brain with that event so long ago. Poor guy.  
Diel saw the body bag and seemed almost relieved. Almost. His glance at the AWP rifle got him concerned about the situation again. "Where was that rifle pointed at?"  
The dark blue-haired Preventor walked over to where the sniper had been. "Snow's room."  
"What?"  
"That's right."  
"Why would a sniper go after him?"  
"That's a good question." She turned around glanced back at some of the soldiers. One that won't be answered until we bring that group down. 


	13. Guest of the Sank Kingdom

**Disclaimer** I don't own the Gundam series and such.  
  
Dang it's been six months since I've posted. Feels weird. Anyway, please enjoy.  
  
Chapter 12- A Guest of the Sank Kingdom  
  
A Japanese middle-aged man dressed in a business suit sat at a lavish desk with a view of a city that curved up into the sky, a common sight for people who lived in the colonies. The man was surrounded by miniatures of cowboys and tanks, with paperwork intermingled in the cracks. The black hair on his head shined on the paper he was signing, a military contract. His gray eyes show signs of aging, but not enough to sway his eerily grim smile as he looked into an incoming message on his videophone. The man didn't answer it.  
"Considering everything. I'm not surprised that he was killed." He brought his hand up as though to figure something out. "No... He would think something was wrong then. But, at the same time I have to tell him. That an unknown assailant killed the man I sent. Yeah, that would go over well."  
The man continued to hesitate as he went through his options. He isn't going to like any way I say it. He pressed the button on the videophone and a snowed up screen appeared on the videophone.  
"Eizo. I'm sorry to say this, but someone saw my man coming. He was found murdered."  
"WHAT?!"  
"Remember your heart!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex felt his legs for the first time in hours as he shook his right leg in bed. Relief poured over him as he thought of permanent paralysis from Diel's hand. He sat up in bed and looked around at his surroundings, which were nothing special. It was an ordinary bedroom with a closet and a table with several items on it; his wallet, pendent, and Preventor ID. His clothes were hung up in the closet. The Preventor jacket even had patches over the burnt off parts.  
"My clothes?" He looked down at his attire, and saw only boxers on. The pilot immediately ran over and began to put on his clothes.  
After Alex laced up his boots, the Preventor walked out of his room and into so much fuss, that he would later wish he was still in bed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"A month?!" Snow's jaw almost came unhinged at what one maintenance crewmember had said to him.  
"That is correct."  
"But, the damage isn't enough to warrant that long of a repair time." Alex looked at the wreck of Icedig with scaffolds and catwalks crisscrossing every which way to keep the mobile suit up. The paint job was gone, and a hollowed body joints remained where the armor used to be. Then again, that length of time might be too little...  
"The arm units were severely damaged. One leg unit has to be replaced, and the other might as well be replaced. The upper torso armor suffered severe damage as well, and the barring joints have to be replaced due to frictional damage. Then there is the wiring..."  
The list went on and on, and he had enough. The brunette waved his arms around to stop him. "Alright, I get the picture."  
"But I only got half way through the list..."  
"I know... I know" He sighed heavily as he walked away from the crewmember. He would have broken down into tears if he hadn't. Icedig had undergone so much maintenance since he had begun to pilot; it's ridiculous. Even the gundanium/neo-titanium outfitted Icedig was virtually destroyed in its first battle. He was beginning to question his suit's strengths and weaknesses. There was nothing more than weakness being shown in the suit, it was simply outdated and being overpowered. The Gundams are far superior to Icedig, yet. ... They just keep rebuilding it. Makes no sense, they should begin to make an upgrade or something....  
The crewmember tugged on Alex's shoulder, and he turned around to look at him. "We need you to look over this replacement list and sign this shipping order."  
Alex rolled his eyes. Great more paperwork...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So... What do you think about this situation?" Hilde took a sip of tea.  
"Well, I don't mind that the Colonel is interested in the Sank Kingdom, again, but I can hardly believe that so much effort has been invested in this pilot." Relena brought her teacup to her lips. "He is unknown... so, why is the Colonel interested in him?"  
The dark blue haired Preventor hesitated, and a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. Another moment went by.  
"Well?"  
"There is going to be an invasion." Relena blankly stared at her. "The men behind it are preparing an all-out full attack, which requires our forces to be at full strength. This includes Snow."  
"I wish people would stop ruining the peace obtained by the Gundam pilots."  
"I know. It's only going to get worse. Unless we stop them and soon." She took a sip from her teacup.  
"I'm surprised that you're the leader of your outfit. It's not bad, but why isn't that pilot in charge."  
Hilde put her cup down on the table, and looked up at the vice- foreign minister. "I'm leader to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. I'm his overseer in a sense. Though, after this last skirmish I might want to do more than what I have been doing."  
"I would consider it if I were you."  
"His discipline is all shot to hell, and he doesn't listen to authority very well. Besides taking on missions. At this rate, he will dig his own grave one way or another."  
"Discipline?"  
"Yeah. It's to be expected. He has been on his own one way or another for the past five years now."  
Relena placed her cup down. "What he lacks is formality."  
"What?"  
"The quality of being formal."  
"Oh."  
"Discipline usually comes along with being formal, though some people mess that part up entirely."  
"So, you want to..." Hilde hesitated, "formalize Preventor Snow."  
"Yes, I think it would do a world of good for him."  
"I hope so."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex stepped out of the maintenance corridor, which lead from the cliff hangar, and slowly walked up some stairs toward the surface.  
There were two hundred parts on that list. It will take a month to completely fix that suit. I'm stuck here for a month. Figures.  
After several minutes, he reached a door and opened it. He was now on the outskirts of the mansion. The sun glared his eyes as he stepped out, and his hands went up to shield them. He shifted his sight down the hill and saw the city along with the forest on either side. The sea was also a beautiful to take in.  
"I guess it isn't such a bad place after all."  
"It sure is." A voice came from behind Alex. He jumped forward and looked behind him. It was Diel. He was in a summer getup with a black shirt and green shorts. A gym bag was in his right hand. The bodyguard saw the shock on Alex's face, but stood there not caring about it. "Don't tell me, I scared you."  
"Yes... you... did...." Alex almost hyperventilated.  
Diel shook his head, "Most people don't spaz out when I do that."  
Alex caught his breath. "Excuse me if I'm not like most people."  
"Good. You're better now." Diel coldly walked past Alex.  
"Thank you for caring."  
"If I did that to anybody in the field, they wouldn't be breathing right now. Their bodies would be limp on the ground." Alex just stared at the comment. "Just making sure you weren't being sarcastic."  
"Of course not..." Alex kept his nervousness back. "Why would I?"  
"I'm a bodyguard. I can read people's body/mouth gestures. I'm not stupid." Diel continued to walk away.  
"Great, I made a jerk out of myself in front of him." The brunette mumbled. The black-haired man stopped and looked back at Alex. "Want to join me for a game of chess?" "Chess?" "Yeah. You know a game with pieces..." "I know what it is! And, I accept." "Ok, then."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex and Diel sat in a remote corner of the recreation center's lounge. Alex had, thus far, managed to upset Diel's plans on several moves, and the only pieces to dispose of were his two Rooks, Queen, and one Bishop aside from the King. Though the game had went badly, Diel was very calm about the situation.  
"I must say, I expected more out of you." Alex commented as he surveyed what was left of Diel's pieces.  
"If it weren't from a pilot, I'd be offended." Diel stared at the board with a stare that would have sent chills down people's spines. But, Alex didn't notice.  
"What have you done for all these years anyway?" Alex slowly moved his hand onto his Queen.  
"Since Heero Yuy's death, I have gone from country to country and even colonies in search of a job. I could never find one. Mostly because people didn't want a bodyguard who failed his mission." A small tear went down his face. "That is until I got this job."  
"That's bites. Being unemployed for all those years." Alex moved his Queen. "Checkmate."  
"I worked at restaurants, and even worked as a martial arts expert for a little while." Diel observed Alex's move carefully.  
"Martial arts. That explains the karate chop." Alex rubbed the back of his neck. Diel picked up his Queen and knocked out Alex's Queen.  
"Checkmate."  
"What?!" Alex looked frantically looked down at the board.  
"I let you win up until that point. Usually people bring out their King out and I crush them. Except you didn't, I needed some move that would put your King at risk. And, you obliged. Good game."  
The brunette couldn't believe his eyes. Diel had pulled a fast one on him. Now, he knew how Duo felt. "But..."  
"That's life." The bodyguard got up and picked up his bag. He headed off toward the multi-purpose room.  
Alex blankly stared at the chessboard. "I was winning too..."  
The next moment, Alex was tugged out of his seat and dragged away by Hilde.  
"I can walk!"  
"Then walk."  
She let go of Alex, and he got back up to his feet. The brunette brushed off the back of his pants.  
"What was that for?!"  
"The Vice Foreign Minister insists on seeing you at once."  
"What for?" "Relena and I want you to become disciplined." Alex angrily stared at her, and had a hint of confusion in his eyes. "She says the best way is to make you formal. In other words, she is going to formalize you."  
"Oh, that's all. Phew, for a minute...." The concept connected in Alex's head. "Formalize. You want me to be formal. Excuse me, no!"  
"That's an order."  
"No way. I refuse."  
"Snow. What better things do you have to do?"  
"Nothing, but I'm not doing it. Period."  
The dark blue haired Preventor turned around and headed toward the door. "Ok. But, don't be surprised if your past came to light in..."  
Suddenly, Alex booked and was in front of Hilde. "Why didn't you say I was going to be taught how to be formal? I would have come if you said that." He anxiously chuckled.  
Good boy. Hilde hid the smile on her face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lesson one: Food Etiquette  
  
Alex sat in an expensive wooden chair, which was placed at the head of a long table. His blue eyes almost drooled at the sight of the food in front of him. A perfectly cooked drumstick from a Turkey, a pile of mashed potatoes with Turkey gravy, and small assortment of vegetables lay before him on his plate. A roll was on a small plate with the butter conveniently next to it. An arsenal of silverware lay on the three sides of the plates, each similar, yet different from the one next to it. A napkin was folded up toward the ceiling and stood next the forks.  
The brunette turned his head and glanced over at Relena who was observing from a nearby wall. "When do you want me to start?"  
"Right now, if you want."  
"Ok."  
Alex reached over toward the fork closest to the plate.  
"Not that one."  
His hand passed that one, and went to reach for the one next to it.  
"Ahem."  
Feeling a little frustrated, he reached for the next one.  
"Ahem."  
There was only one fork left to choose from, now. "By power of deduction, I conclude that this is the fork I must use in order to eat properly." The Preventor picked up the fork and brought it over to the plate. "Finally, I shall eat." He whispered.  
His fork was only an inch away from the mashed potatoes. "You're still wrong."  
"What? What am I suppose to eat with then? My hands. That isn't proper, now is it?"  
"The first step is put your napkin onto your lap."  
"Oh... of course... right." He promptly put his fork down and put his napkin on his lap. "That's it, right?"  
"Don't forget about your knife. Also, work outside in...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lesson Two: Dress Attire  
  
Relena and Hilde sat in a set of leather-covered chairs. Hilde twirled her dark blue hair with her right hand to make it look straight. Relena on the other hand, looked straight at a dressing screen with clothes hung over the top. The clothes were very formal in appearance and it appeared to be a tuxedo.  
"I can't believe you got a tailor to measure him up." Preventor Lumin stopped with her hair, and looked straight at the screen. "Even better is that he isn't fussing about it."  
  
Voices came from behind the screen. "What's this?"  
"That's a tie."  
  
"I take that back." Hilde let out a heavy sigh.  
  
"Ok. What are you doing with that?"  
"Measuring your waist."  
"Oh, gotcha."  
"Good. Now stay still."  
"What are you doing with those needles?!"  
"Just fitting the suit together. Just stay still. This will be a lot quicker if you do."  
"But..."  
  
"Do as he says, Snow, or else. " Lumin's voice was forceful and firm.  
  
"Right. Get on with it."  
"Hold your arm up."  
"OW!"  
"I told you stay still."  
"Ok. Ok."  
  
"It's a wonder that he made it through the food etiquette lesson of yours so quickly." Hilde grumbled as she continued to listen to Alex and the tailor behind the screen.  
"I think he knew what he was doing. He just wasn't used to the extra silverware there."  
"I guess that would make sense."  
  
"What are those?"  
"They're cufflinks."  
"What do they do?"  
"Hold the cuffs together."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lesson Three: Lecture Hall  
  
Relena stood at the front of a lecture hall, and had several philosophy titles written up on a chalkboard. She held a book in her right hand and chalk in the other. The long, blonde-haired woman turned to face the only student in the class.  
"Alex, now remember when dealing..." Relena saw Alex sound asleep in the back row of the hall; also he used his book as a pillow. It was a discouraging sight for any professor, indeed. "Well, you just made this harder on yourself."  
Relena cleared her throat. "Mr. Cros. Will you care to read from the tenth page out of the book?" She projected her voice forcefully across the room.  
A mutter came from Alex. In effect, "call someone else."  
"Mr. Cros. You're the only one in here."  
No response this time around.  
"Ok. If you don't wake up in five seconds, I'll expect you have read the entire book by tomorrow and have written a detailed book report about the philosophies described in it the day after that."  
Alex sprung up out of his seat. "I'm sorry. What page was that?"  
"Ten."  
Alex feverishly flipped through the pages.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Yusao, do you have any idea how pissed I am?" The voice over the videophone said.  
"Of course, I do. You haven't spoken to me in a week, since my last call." The Japanese businessman spoke hesitantly.  
"In that time, I had to consider my options and such along with not tearing apart my last remaining partner."  
"Thank you for doing that." He gulped.  
"I have come to one conclusion. A sniper shouldn't have been sent after him. The Sank Kingdom is better than that."  
"What's the conclusion then?"  
"Send Silent Wind. Kill 235 and then have him kill off the remaining Gundam pilots." Yasuo was in shock.  
"But, he still handling that assignment you gave to him."  
"Get him off that. I want those four dead before anything else happens."  
"This will cause the Preventors to come after us. We can't allow such action."  
"Without the Gundam pilots, the Preventors are useless. I don't want to beat around the bush anymore. Understand?"  
"Yes I do. I'll have him handle it immediately."  
"Good."  
  
The Japanese businessman killed the connection, and placed his head in his hands. "I can't believe you would be that rash. I've worked too hard to get this far. Way too hard." He reached over to his desk and opened up his pda. He slowly wrote up a new message under a directory titled jobs for Wind. He then folded up his pda and placed into his pocket.  
"I just have to wait a little longer. Then, everything will be set." A smile crawled across his face. "Just a little bit longer."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lesson Four: Dancing  
  
"Hilde step to the right. Ok, now to the left, and hold your left arm out like this." Relena held her left arm in a move of a slow dance, and Hilde was in step with her. Alex was nearby, while he tried to practice a slow dance. Diel was on the other side of a glass door, and kept a close eye on the exits.  
They were in the dance hall; chandeliers lined the ceiling and the luxurious furniture were off to the sides with dusts covers on them. It was a gorgeous place to look at, let alone be in a party there.  
"Good. Now, keep your feet like that and..." A thud emitted throughout the hall. The two ladies stopped and looked at Alex. He was on the ground; apparently, he had landed headfirst with his legs twisted on each other. "How many times has he tried that number?"  
"That would be the eleventh time. Trying to teach him dancing is like teaching a blind man to see." Hilde let out a heavy sigh.  
"I'm okay." He mumbled.  
"It's a wonder that he could even pilot that suit with that poor feet eye coordination of his."  
"Agreed."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lesson Five: Coordination through Fencing  
  
Two fencers stood on a gymnastics mat in the recreation center. Alex stared at his opponent's fencing sword, and held his own up. The opponent was his height and wore a fencing suit. Through the mask, the brown haired Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy, stared back at him with cool intent and battle on his mind. Alex gulped. Why me? Alex stared back to immediate Heero. It didn't work. In fact, it only made it worse as his opponent smirked.  
"Ready, when you are."  
Alex looked at Heero more anxiously than before. Shit. He wants me to move first, again. Snow gulped again. He then parried forward, and his sword lunged forward.  
Heero tapped Alex's sword to the side, and had his sword pointed an inch away from Alex's head.  
  
"You're lucky this isn't battle. A mistake, like that, would get you killed." Heero let down his sword.  
"I thought this was suppose to get me more coordinated."  
"It is."  
"Then, why do you keep knocking off my first move?"  
"They're foolish moves."  
"Why did you have to come, anyway?"  
"Relena insisted."  
"Figures."  
  
In an adjacent room, Relena and Hilde kept an eye on the two. Relena's black haired bodyguard closely stood by her side yet kept his sight on Heero alone.  
  
"How many times has Heero done that?" Hilde shook her head.  
"Tenth time." Diel stated.  
"I wonder when he'll learn."  
"Not sure."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I'm beat." Alex dropped his sword on the ground as he looked into his locker. Sweat poured down his face. "Four hours of straight fencing. It's so unrealistic. I've had enough of fencing for a life time." Alex glanced over at Heero. The Gundam pilot didn't have a sweat drop on him, and had already changed into his brown shorts and green tank top. "Aren't you even tired?"  
"Nope." He bent down and began tying his shoes. Alex stared him in shock. "Don't give me that look, though, you got better."  
"I don't see it as that." Alex began to take off his suit.  
"You did." Heero stood back up, and walked out of the locker room.  
Snow blankly stared at Heero. I'm not sure if I should be excited or afraid right now. He shook his head and got his mind back together. The brunette rushed to put his khaki pants and his solid blue shirt on. He slipped on his shoes, but didn't tie them as he dashed off to catch up to Heero.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"He has improved." Hilde took a sip of tea.  
"Yes he has. I'm impressed how in four weeks he has become more proper. Though, it seems he is resisting the change." The Vice Foreign Minister took a sip of tea.  
"I'm not surprised about that. He resists a lot of stuff." Hilde glanced over at the blonde-haired Minister. "I'm not sure..." A knock came from behind the closed door to the study. "why..."  
"Come in."  
The door slowly opened and the middle aged Diel stepped through the door. He hesitated to look at Relena and glanced down at the papers in his left hand.  
"Is something the matter?"  
"Yes. I'm resigning, Ms. Dorlain."  
Relena stood straight up. "Why?" Hilde had a surprised look on her face.  
"Earlier today, I received news that my cousin and his wife were killed in a car accident in San Francisco. Their four-year-old son survived the crash, but now he is orphaned and well I'm the only family left that could take care of him." Small tears came from his eyes, as he tried to keep his emotions back.  
Lumin stood up and walked over to him. "That's terrible."  
"Yes it is. I have to get going. Here are my..." Diel placed the papers he had onto the desk, but Hilde grabbed his hand.  
"You worked hard for this job. There has to be another way."  
"I did work hard, but that child needs a mentor. I won't let foster parents try to fill a void that only a family member can provide."  
"But..."  
"Hilde let him go." Lumin complied and both her and Diel looked over at Relena. "I know you have done a great here. It's been an honor to have you as my bodyguard, but guarding lives goes on different levels. That child needs you." "Thank you for understanding, Ms. Dorlain." The bodyguard bowed, and slowly walked out of the room.  
Relena approached the door and glanced at Diel one last time. "Take care."  
He turned around and, with tears were being forced back, he said, "Thank you again, Ms. Dorlain." Diel turned back around and dashed off.  
Hilde took one last look at the man, and couldn't help but cry. "What a tragedy.'  
"Yes. It is." 


	14. Commission

Chapter 13- Commission

Disclaimer- I am not the owner of the Gundam Series. Let's leave it at that.

Author notes- Well, I've been lazy/busy/stressed out with this past semester. I'm sorry about the delay. Enjoy the chapter. I did 'try' to make this chapter serious, but it went a different direction on me. ****shrugI tried but I failed, besides just think of one of the lines in here and you'll understand that you'll need this non serious chapter. Good day.

Alex stretched out in his seat, and began to relax. _Free at last. I finally escape that place. Known as the Sank Kingdom. Thank goodness. _The brunette got more relaxed at that thought.

--------------------------------

The dark-blue haired Lumin let out a sigh at the sight of Alex in a very relaxed position. _He seems to be happy…_ She glanced over at Toki who was busy with his laptop. He had the face of no return. _ He'll be out of it for some time as well. This is going to be an uneventful ride, I hope at least._ Her sight went back to Alex, who was still stretched out, seemed to be asleep now. _Snow, I still wish I could tell you what you'll be asked to do. It doesn't seem fair that any of us should, but I still have confidence that you'll do your job nonetheless._

Alex fell onto the seat next to him, and didn't attempt to get back up.

_He is definitely asleep. Lucky guy, I can barely sleep nowadays. Things are only going to get worse from here on out._ Hilde yawned. She stretched out and sank her head off to the side. _Must be the atmosphere…._

-----------------------------------

Orza stared out a shuttle window at the earth as he left the earth's atmosphere. _It looks more beautiful out here, anyway._ The blonde-haired pilot couldn't resist another look at the planet. He had just been ordered back to headquarters now that his preparations were done on earth

A stewardess pushed a cart along the alley with beverages and an assortment of food. All of the soldiers were sound asleep as she walked by them. "No one is awake at this hour." She mumbled. As she got to the next to last seat at the back of the shuttle, she saw the only person that was awake in the entire cabin, beside her. She sighed heavily. "Sir, would you like a beverage or something to eat."

The red-eyed pilot didn't hear her speak as he continued to look out the window.

"Sir."

Orza finally saw the reflection of the stewardess in the window and turned around to face her.

_Got this guy's attention… finally._ She forced a smile on her face. "Sir, would you like a beverage to drink or something to eat?"

The pilot hesitated for a moment. "I'll pass, but thank you, anyway."

"Alright." The stewardess began to push again. _It's only my job. You jerk._

As Orza looked at the earth again, he had other things on his mind more than a drink or a sandwich. The teenager was happy to head back. _Alex is… alive… _ _Yet, at the same time_…. _an enemy… I'm not sure what to do… I promised both of them, that I would avenge them. But, he is alive… Why does life have to screw around with me?!_

------------------------------------

Icedig stood straight up in a mobile suit hangar. Toki sat on the catwalk in front of Icedig, and typed away on his laptop.

Toki wiped the sweat off his forehead as he looked at schematics of Icedig were plastered onto the laptop screen. _This heat is becoming unbearable._ He typed another line of code and the right arm of Icedig rose to its side. Another stroke of the keyboard and the arm went down. The technician wiped more sweat off his forehead. _The tests are complete. About damn time._ As he got up, the cockpit of Icedig opened up and Alex poked his head out of the cockpit.

"Are we done, yet?"

"That's why I had you open the cockpit door…" _Genius…_

"Awesome." _About time… it's getting too hot in here for me…_ The brunette jumped out of the cockpit and landed on the catwalk. It shook a little bit, and the laptop slid.

Toki panicked as he saw his laptop slid a little and grabbed it before it could go anywhere. He shut his screen and gave Alex an evil eye. The kind of eye where it told a person, _don't you dare do that again!_

Alex nervously laughed as he saw Toki's eyes, "I'm sorry about that. Just don't give me that look."

"Just be grateful that it didn't go anywhere." The gray-haired technician stood up and turned his back. _Very lucky that it didn't go anywhere._

"I'm sorry, OK?!" Alex sighed as Toki continued down the walkway. _Nice one Alex._

A static sound echoed the hangar, and both men looked up at the speakers closest to them. "Preventor Snow and technician Watari, please report to Room 235." A familiar female voice spoke over the PA system.

Alex blinked at the speaker, and then turned to Toki. "Do you have a clue what's going on here?"

Toki looked back at Alex. "Not a clue."

Alex began walk along the catwalk. _Sheesh... Hilde, you could have at least come and get us yourself._

-------------------------------

The blond-haired pilot leaned on the rail of the catwalk, and mobile suits lined the maintenance bay. Orza had spotted a new suit almost immediately after he entered the bay. The mobile suit had a great resemblance to Toteis, but it wasn't the same. Orza's look turned to disbelief as he continued to look at the suit.

The gold plated armor glistened from the work lights. Black rubber eerily clashed with the armor. A spike covered each hand, and each joint had a protective spike that covered it. The head had two antennas in the back with two spiked ears on the side, and the top of the head came to a point in the front. Also, the red eye of the suit seemingly stared at Orza's red eyes.

_They made a new model without telling me? .. _Orza glanced around, but saw nothing more. _There is only one... who is gonna pilot it I wonder._

A hand grasped Orza's right shoulder and the pilot almost leaped back in shock. His glance went straight to the man's eyes, _Jarrett Amuza._

"Isn't it a great looking mobile suit?" Jarrett looked in awe of the new model. "Who would have thought it was possible?"

"It's just a gold plated looking mobile suit. What else is special about it?" Animosity went into every word he said.

"It's the technology behind it. It's superb."

"Excellent technology means nothing without something to back it up."

_Brat..._ Amuza looked back at Orza. "The technology is not only in the weaponry, but in the AI as well."

"AI?! That thing is a mobile doll!" More disbelief filled Orza's face.

"Yes." Amuza smirked as he turned his head away. _Consider yourself fortunate that you'll live long enough to see this thing in action._

"But a single mobile doll? That's ludicrous. Thousands of mobile dolls didn't save Battleship Orion. And, it won't help us now!"

"Calm down, Orza. Do you believe that the scientists here would let us down with a weak suit? That thing will have the strength of a Gundam, and will have the strategy of an ace pilot. It won't be very easy to defeat, if at all."

"That is still preposterous." Orza pounded his fist into the rail, and pain rang through it. But, it didn't faze him. Anger was in bloom in his eyes, and they began to almost flame. _Those bastards, how dare they try to replace a human with machines... Can't believe this..._

Orza fumed a little more then walked off toward a locker room to let out even more steam.

Jarrett just chuckled as Orza left. _Angry that they are replacing your family? That's rich. Especially, since you weren't human in the first place._ The rose emblem on Amuza's jacket eerily glimmered as the black haired man looked back at the golden mobile suit. _Though, you have the right to be afraid, since well... _The twenty-five year old stopped in mid-thought and looked at the suit more closely. _It is your family._

Jarrett turned his back to rail and began to walk away. _And, I'll love to see it when it's at full potential. Should be quite the show, to see those pilots faces when they see this thing in action._

_-------------------------------------_

Alex stared at the screen in front of him. Images of crumbled, devastated buildings all around screen. He sighed lightly. _These images aren't real, but they still bother me. Why does Hilde insist on this simulation anyway? Haven't I proved that simulations don't do much for me? _Alex paused for a second as the screen scanned for enemy suits. _I guess not._

A blip appeared on the radar, and was headed toward him. His blue eyes at the blip, then back to the screen. "Let's do this."

------------------------------------

Icedig thrusted upward and struggled against the gravity of the planet. After a few seconds of flight, it landed roughly roughly on what was left of a collapsed building and the cement crumbled under its weight. It ignited its green beam saber and waited for its opponent to arrive.

Out of corner of the screen, a blue Taurus flew around the corner of what was left of a grocery store. The Taurus had a rifle in hand, and began to open fire on Icedig. Icedig off to the one of the sides, and barely missed the shots from the Taurus.

The blue Taurus went after Icedig, but, when it got to where Icedig had vanished from its sight, there was nothing to see. The Taurus stood there perplexed with a street with nothing to hide behind, but this thought disappeared from the pilot's mind as the building it stood next to began to tremble. The Taurus looked up, and Icedig descended upon it with its gundanium sword about to bear down on the helpless Taurus.

For both pilots, time seemed to slow down as Icedig came closer and closer, but Taurus didn't react. The pilot was simply dumbfounded. As the sword came closer to the camera, out of nowhere a beam energy shot smashed into Icedig's head and tore off the head completely. The mobile suit was thrown like a rag doll into the asphalt street, and the street was torn up as it continued down the street. A cloud of rumble rose up after the out of control Icedig, and the suit disappeared until a loud crashing sound echoed down the street.

The Blue Taurus glanced at the cloud for a moment, and then its head turned to look where the shot came from. A Dark Green Taurus stood down the road with a upgraded version of the Taurus beam rifle, and that Taurus almost appeared to have a smirk on across the lower part of its head. The Blue Taurus shifted its attention back to the downed mobile suit hidden by the cloud of kicked up rubble.

As the dust began to settle, a building appeared with robotic legs similar to Icedig that stuck out and laid on the street. Concrete and steel bars dug into Icedig, and it was hopeless.

The fight was over, and Icedig was defeated once again.

------------------------------------

Alex stared up at the ceiling of his simulation pod. The lights that were normally there, were dead and none of the switches responded. His brown hair dripped sweat, and his blue eyes continued to blankly stare at the ceiling. His hands had a death grip on the joysticks. He just didn't know what to think of with that simulation. "_But.. But..." _Alex's eyes snapped out of their blank stare, and his right hand moved over to open the pod door. "Hidle!"

"That's Lumin to you." Hilde's voice projected over the PA system.

His blue eyes glared the PA speaker for a moment. He didn't want to blow up, but it would make him feel better if he did. Alex forced himself to calm down in his mind. "Lumin, you said I was only dealing with one Taurus in that simulation."

"That is what I said."

"Then, why was a second Taurus there?"

"Because a second pilot decided to help out a friend. That person overrided our control. It just went from there."

Alex let out a heavy sigh and looked down from the PA. "_Why can't you just tell me that you allowed another pilot to join in on the fray. How am I suppose to trust her when she doesn't tell me anything?!" _He let out a huff then began to walk toward the exit. "Just tell me that the pilots were Duo, Heero, or Quatre and I'll be happy."

"Neither of them were the pilots, Snow."

"You had the codes, so it must have been you."

"Negative." The voice sternly said.

Alex had his fingers on the buttons to open the door, but stopped dead cold when he heard Hilde's words. "_Okay. If those guys weren't in the simulation, then who was it?"_ He shook his head and pressed the buttons in order.

The doors slid open and Alex took a step forward, then stopped. A person stood on the other side of the door. His semi-short red hair glistened with sweat, and his green eyes gladly stared into Alex's blue eyes.

"Snow, you are a sight for sore eyes. Its been several months since I last saw you." The red haired teenager stepped into the room and glanced around. "Yep. Definitely the same kind of simulators back at San Jose."

Alex couldn't help but stare down at his friend, since he was taller. "Yeah... I agree." His right arm reached behind his head to loosen the tense in his neck. "Misao, do you have any... " Alex hesitated for a moment, and his eyes avoided eye contact with Misao's eyes. "bad feelings about what I did back at San Jose? I mean... I..."

"None." Alex's attention snapped back. His expression had disbelief all over it.

"None?"

"Yep. Thanks to you, I gained my confidence for fighting in mobile suits. I have even rose to be the best mobile suit pilot cadet at San Jose."

"Beat out Kaori, I see."

"Correct, she is grudgingly at second with the intent of being first again."

"Not bad..." Alex thought back to that brief period there, a thought came to mind. "_I just hope that Kaori doesn't hunt me down for getting her rank down. Definitely not going back to San Jose or a hundred mile radius of her anytime soon. Especially after Toki explained what happened with the student that pranked her." _Alex shuddered, then his mind came back to the conversation.

"You had nothing but a positive influence on me. Thank you." Misao's hand extended out. The brunette reached out and shook the cadet's hand.

"Your welcome..." Misao let go of Alex's hand and began to leave the room. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh, right." The redhead turned around and devilishly smiled with a victory sign formed in his right hand. "I piloted that Blue Taurus that you fought against."

Alex stared in dumbfoundment, and couldn't bung a muscle, not even his mouth. _"Well, that figures... testing cadets against me... a new low for me. What are the Preventors gonna do next to me?_" His muscles were able to move again, and his mind kind of relaxed. "You know what?" Alex walked over to Misao and patted him on the shoulder. "That was much better than last time I saw you, but I would have won if it weren't for that Green Taurus." He stopped in the middle of the track of the door, and had his back to the east part of the hallway.

Misao nodded. "I owe my victory to that Taurus."

"Yeah, I should have kept an eye out, but I was so focused I forgot. How stupid of me to get cheap shotted like that. Has to be the worse thing that any pilot could feel." A shadow loomed over Alex with burning eyes just over his left shoulder.

"Um... Snow..."

"I mean come on, they should have left me alone so that at least it could have had a fair simulation...."

"Snow..." The redhead took a step back from the Preventor.

"They had no right to do that...." The shadow's burning grew in intensity. "to interfere like that..."

"If you know what's good for you... stop speaking Snow..." Misao took another step back.

"Just let me get this off my chest, okay?"

"I would be concerned about your health more... than your opinion..."

Alex looked at him odd, then noticed the floor had a second shadow besides his own that came from behind him. "Right. I understand, Lumin I apologize for my comments...." He turned around to face the person he thought was Lumin. "about... that pilot..." His blue eyes locked with a pair of gray angry eyes. "You're... not Lumin...." He pointed his right index finger at the person, and it kind of limped to the side.

"Got that right." Her short dirty-blonde hair seemed to flail up at those words.

"Kaori long time no see...." Alex choked up on his words.

"You too..." The anger filled eyes didn't leave his eyes.

"One question, were you the..."

"Yes. I was the pilot of the other Taurus." A joyful anger look filled her eyes as she continued to stare at him.

"Okay... then..." Fear had paralyzed him and his words were shuddered. Misao just kept his distance as Kaori had her sights on him. "Sorry?... And mercy?"

"Apology accepted...."

Alex let out a sigh of relief.

"Mercy denied."

"_Crap."_

---------------------------------------------

Toki sat in an armchair right next to Preventor Lumin as she looked over the last part of files on her desk. The last page was flipped, and she closed the folder. A small smile went over her lips, and the dark blue haired Preventor leaned back in her desk chair with her arms crossed on her chest.

Misao and Kaori stood in military posture in front of her desk. Their glance was directed above Lumin, out of respect and nervousness. "_She has to like my record. We girls got to keep ourselves secure." "Don't discard my files please..."_

After she made the cadets sweat a bit, Hilde came out of her relaxed position and rested her arms on the desk. "I received these files from Colonel Une herself. I have looked over both of them, carefully. And after your simulation with Snow, I have made up my mind."

_"Lumin... I hope you know what you are doing..." "She'll keep me and discard what's his name there." "I know I would be a valuable asset, I'll prove it... I know I will."_

"Even though, the Colonel said I could only pick one of you. It was a tough decision. Not one anyone would make. Both of you have qualities that this team needs. Ensign Misao Okita, you have tactics and the ability to use them."

"Thank you ma'am."

"Ensign Kaori Enoki, you have the stubbornness of a bull and the ability to pilot almost on par with the Gundam pilots."

"Thank you." An invisible smirk went across her face. "_I got it."_

"These qualities work well together, but seeing as I could only pick one. I decided to..." Both cadets' emotions raced with excitement, but they stayed still. "So, I called up Colonel Une, and she granted my request. You are both part of this team now. Because of your combination as a team that brought down Snow."

The cadets looked at each briefly and then back to Lumin. "_Stuck with what's his face." "God... why did you have to stick us together?... I know I'm going to lose a few years for this."_

"Enjoy tonight and tomorrow, after tomorrow you will not have the freedom you had coming in here." The Preventor stared intently at them, and they stared back just the same. "You'll be briefed on your team role when you come back. Enjoy your time."

The gray-haired technician looked at both of them, and sighed. "_Both... are gonna stay. Why me?"_

Lumin displayed an energetic smile as the other three let their minds think. Yet, this hid her own thoughts. "_Where is Alex? I told him to come directly here after that simulation. I'm soooo going to send his butt to kitchen if he disobeyed orders again! He better have an excuse, or else."_

Meanwhile in the simulation room

Alex laid limp on the ground. His left arm by his left side, while his right was planted by his back of his head. The legs were just spread out. His head was on its side with a small of blood on the floor by his mouth. It was just a pathetic sight to see.

The Preventor tried to lift his right hand up, but it fell limp. His eyes looked up at the PA speaker and he quietly said. "If nobody minds, I'll just rest here for a little while and hope that the internal bleeding swells down."

----------------------------------

"So, its AI system is 100% complete. That's welcomed news." Eizo let out a puff of smoke into the air as he relaxed in his armchair. "How long until its body is ready for combat?"

"At least another month, sir." A voice over the intercom spoke.

"Excellent. Just keep the Seelen on schedule. You understand?"

"Yes, sir."

The old man reached over and killed the intercom. He slowly inhaled another puff of smoke and breathed it out. _"With Seelen nearly complete, those Preventors will never know what hit them."_ He chuckled a little bit, and then snuffed out his cigarette in an ashtray.


	15. Shopping Ethics

Disclaimer Alright, I'm tired of these disclaimers. I'm not the owner of the Gundam Series. May we all rest in peace knowing that the Gundam Series is in the capable hands of the Bandai Corp. thinks about that Hmm... Seed wasn't great... on second thought, let's rally to the aid of the guy who originally created gundam then we can get great gundam shows back on the air. Yes! That's what we have to do! Who is with me! cricket Great... no one. Ok, on with the chapter.

---------------

Chapter 14 – Shopping Ethics

A couple of weeks went by after Kaori and Misao had be commissioned to Lumin's Preventor Team. Alex was fully healed from his brush with Kaori, and began to enjoy the fact that Hilde had bossed them around more than him. The team had been reassigned to the Detroit area for further training. After they had arrived, there was constant training to prepare for something that Alex wasn't aware of, but had suspicions of.

But, the brown-haired Preventor was about to find out that the future isn't the only thing he should be worried about. The past is about to knock on his door.

----------------------------------

Alex slept in his cockpit with a washcloth over his head. He was stretched out in his seat, and seemed to enjoy the sleep he had gotten. There had been plenty to do since the Preventor team was transferred to Detroit, and this was a brief rest period for him. Snow wasn't about to lose a wink of sleep to anything or anyone.

The cockpit to Icedig was shut tightly, and, with the manual override disabled from the inside, no one from the outside would able to get in. Alex's efforts didn't amount to much since Lumin had taken Toki, Kaori, and Misao out to make some quick errands about town an hour ago.

------------------------------

A black-haired Japanese businessman walked down a dark alleyway in the heart of downtown Detroit. The man had a briefcase in one hand, and walked with the persona of 'don't touch me' as he continued down the alley. The alley was eerily quiet, not even a single homeless person was around.

He stopped by a dumpster, and sat his briefcase on top of it. The man then pulled a cigarette along with a lighter. After the cigarette was lit, the black-haired man inhaled a bit, and then exhaled. The cloud loomed over the man, and the man looked at his briefcase. His eyes kept tabs on the shadows nearby, as he continued to smoke.

Another poof of smoke was let out and a hard to hear sound was emitted nearby.

"So, you've arrived."

No response.

"Don't worry, I just got here myself. Or maybe you knew that already."

No response.

The man let out a sigh. "I keep forgetting that you are hard core about your profession, and so am I. That is why I had you come here." Still no movement from the shadows. "Eizo is becoming impatient with your progress. He wants you to speed it up with the death of one of the pilots within the week."

The cigarette was halfway gone, and he tapped it on the dumpster to get rid of the ash on it.

"I don't blame him for his actions, but really you are taking too long to make a move. If you don't want to do this assignment, I could easily have another one of my people do the job instead..." A gun cock echoed throughout the alleyway. "You're very persuasive when you want to be. I won't have another take your place." The gun could be heard being returned to its original spot. "But be warned, you must do this or Eizo will have your head and not mine."

The man dropped his cigarette onto the ground and crushed what little fire was left in it. After he smeared it with his foot, he began to walk back out the way he came. He glanced back before he left the alley, and the briefcase was gone. _I just hope you will follow through with this mission, Silent Wind._

--------------------------------

Toki sat in disbelief where he and Misao were as they sat by fitting rooms in a clothing store. He and Misao were now victims of Hilde and Kaori's buying excursion for a new dress. _I can't believe, those two decided that this was the time for buying new clothing and didn't let us have a say in the matter._ Toki's eyes glanced at Misao who sat a few chairs down from him, and the red-haired pilot stared away from the fitting room with a heavy heart.

"Misao, what's the matter?"

"I was just thinking how we are here, and Alex isn't."

"It isn't fair, I know. But, he is lucky to not have been found by Hilde before we went out. I still wonder where he was."

"No idea. He is just luckier than us..."

Both Hilde and Kaori stepped out from the fitting rooms. Hilde had on a gorgeous blue dress that came down to her knees with thin straps over her shoulders. Kaori had on an elegant red dress that came down to slightly above her knees and was strapless. They walked over to both guys and showed off their dresses.

Needless to say, the technician and the young pilot were speechless. Their jaws hung a bit low.

In the back of Toki's mind, _Alex isn't luckier after all..._

--------------------------------------

Alex continued to sleep in his cockpit. The washcloth lay on the ground now, and his mouth was wide with a some drool that hung out his mouth. It was just an embarrassing scene, but no one was around.

A knock came from the cockpit door.

Alex slept still.

Another louder knock echoed in the cockpit.

Alex groggily stirred, and looked at the cockpit door. "Go away." He rested his head again.

More series of knocks came, and wouldn't stop.

This time Alex had to respond. He got out of his seat, and activated the cockpit door. Once the cockpit door opened, Alex looked at the person outside. "I'm trying to sleep... in... here..."

The person in front of him had the uniform of a high ranking Preventor aid. He had on a green-tan jacket with the Preventor logo over his heart, a blue pair of khakis pants, and had a green hat with the Preventor logo on the front. Alex was familiar with this design of uniform, because it was that of an aid to Colonel Une herself. The brown-haired pilot didn't recognize the man otherwise. The aid's eyes were covered by a shadow, and his hair was tucked in under his hat.

He promptly saluted the man, and the aid saluted him back.

"Colonel Une requests your presence."

"What does the Colonel want with me?"

"Something important, that is all I know."

_Why am I not surprised?_ Alex went back into the cockpit of Icedig for a moment. "Just let me get my jacket."

The aid stood patiently as Alex retrieved his jacket from a storage unit in Icedig. After a minute so, the pilot came out with his Preventor jacket on.

"Where does she want to meet me at?"

"I'll drive you there. It's in the old factory district."

The two men began to walk away from Icedig along the catwalk.

"Talk about in the middle of nowhere..."

"I don't question her orders, I just follow them."

"I know how that feels."

The two men walked out of the hangar.

----------------------------------

The girls walked down the sidewalk and took their time as they looked in shop windows. Shortly behind them were the guys that carried several bags for each that was about to their heads, and could barely see anything in front of them.

Hilde and Kaori walked into their final store for the night, a local grocery store.

"Last stop guys." Hilde said as she held open the door for the guys.

"Thank God." Misao mumbled.

"I don't feel my arms anymore..." Toki muttered. "They better carry some of this on the way back... or there will be hell to pay...."

Both of them struggled to get into the door, and Hilde closed the door behind them.

-----------------------------

A vehicle pulled up to an abandoned factory that had old signs with 'GM' vaguely visible from years of neglect. The smoke stacks had crumbled long ago, and most of the building was tattered beyond repair. Rust everywhere. Windows shattered. The building itself almost appeared to be ready its own demise.

It was hardly believable that someone would want to meet here. Yet, Alex looked at the building through the window of the car as if he knew that the Colonel was strange and mostly right in her ways. The brown-haired pilot opened his door and stepped out while his head. "Are you sure this is the place? I mean... this building... is..." The Preventor looked over the roof toward the driver that had stepped out himself.

"Nearly about to fall apart. The Colonel is aware of that."

"Then why meet here?" The door was slammed shut on the driver's side.

"That's the Colonel's reasoning, not mine."

"I guess, you have a point." Alex shut his door and began to approach the factory. _Doesn't mean I like it, though. I just don't understand why she couldn't meet me back at the base. But, that's the Colonel for ya._ The pilot before too long, and looked back at the Preventor aid. "Where in the building?"

"Follow me."

The aid went ahead of Alex, and the nineteen year old Preventor followed.

----------------------------------

An hour after they had hit the grocery store, the team had arrived back at the base. They had put away all the stuff that had been bought, and Preventor Lumin in her pajamas sat down on her bed in her quarters. She relaxed there from the hours of shopping that she and Kaori had done. Her blue dress hung in the closet by her bed, and the looks of surprise on both Toki and Misao's face were still etched in her mind.

_Now to get Alex's expression, and the set would be complete. _She sighed at the thought of where Alex was. The Preventor had lied about not knowing where Alex was. _I could have dragged him along, but I couldn't bare to drag him with us. He just looked too much at peace on the other side of that comm link._ The Preventor fell back onto her bed and gazed up to the ceiling. Her eyes focused on the dull ceiling, and listened to the silence present in the room. "If only life was this quiet all the time..."

A knock came from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Colonel Une's Aid stepped into the room. "Sorry, to come in at such a time." The Aid had a nervous look on his face from both Hilde's attire and something else on his mind.

Lumin sat up on her bed. "Does the Colonel want to speak to me?"

"No. She wants to speak to Snow."

She scratched the top of her head, "The last time I saw him, he was in his mobile suit's cockpit sleeping."

"I checked there. He wasn't there."

Hilde looked surprised. "He wasn't? How about his quarters?"

"Not there either. Did you give him some leave to go into Detroit?"

"No. Why?"

"I can't find him anywhere on this base."

"What?" Hilde's anger had flared up. _Alex went awol while we were gone.... I'm gonna have his head!_

-----------------------------

Alex walked through the pitch black factory as he continued to follow the Preventor Aid. He had been walking for about ten minutes, and still no sign of the Colonel also the figure in front of him was about to fade away. His patience was a bit thin, and the pilot was tempted to turn around and head back.

"Where is the Colonel? I'm tired of these secrets of hers." Suddenly the Aid stopped, and Alex almost ran into him. "So, is this where the colonel is at?"

"I'm sorry, but I believe you misheard me."

"Misheard you? You said, that Colonel Une wanted to talk to me."

"Half of that's true. I did say that, but I lied."

_Shit._ The realization of a trap clicked in Alex's mind.

Alex jumped back away from the man he had followed and tried to run back the way he came. This attempt proved to be futile. The man that had lured Alex into this factory was quicker than the pilot had thought, and a swift elbow to the head knocked Alex out.

The man stood over the pilot's body, and examined him. _I'm sorry I had to drag you into this, but I have no choice now._ The dark figure grabbed Alex by the right leg and dragged him away.

--------------------------

Author's Notes:

That was an interesting chapter. Completely different from what I wanted originally. Long story short, I thought about what would cause later events and this was the only way of that happening. If anyone wants to know how this chap was suppose to go, just ask.

Also, Alex is such an idiot... in a funny way. heavy sigh Can't believe he walked into that one.


	16. Lure

Chapter 15- Lure

--Disclaimer-- The name Gundam is owned by the Bandai Corp. I have no rights to them.

A black pair of pants slid over a pair of legs, and a man buttoned the side down. A black spandex shirt went over the man head and was secured by the pants. On a table nearby, a black head cover with a veil that dangled off the side of the table. The man's hand reached over and grabbed it. He slowly slid the mask over his face, and finally his hands passed his chin. There they stopped and let go. The mask slid on the rest of the way. On his bed were his black Gothic style trench coat and his holster, with desert eagles in them, hooked onto his belt. He grabbed his belt and strapped it around his waist. The last thing to go on was the trench coat.

Silent Wind began to walk toward his door when he glanced at the room's mirror. The chilling stare examined his attire with deadly precision. His right hand reached up to his veil and moved it a millimeter to the left. The hand returned back to his side, and he walked through the door.

--------------------------------

Toki slept soundly in his bed. His bedspread laid sloppily over him, and he snored quietly but definitely. His head laid on one of the two pillows on the bed, and some of his gray hair stranded across his face.

A light shined into the room and across the bed. Toki was unaffected. A person's shadow cast across the room while it drowned out the light.

"Technician Toki Watari." A female voice spoke. "Get up immediately."

The gray-haired eighteen year old rolled over and clamped a pillow down over his head. He muffled a few words through the pillow to the effect of, _I just got in bed two hours ago. Leave me alone._

"I won't repeat myself."

Toki continued to lay there as he tried to ignore her.

"You leave me no choice then."

The female walked over to Toki's bed and yanked the bedspread off the bed. He was flung off the bed and crashed into the ground.

The technician groaned as his rubbed his head. "Was that necessary?" He looked up at Lumin's face.

"Very."

"This better be good then."

"It isn't. Alex is missing from the base."

"Oh ok. Thought it was something... what?"

--------------------------

Silent Wind walked down a hallway which had seen better days. Its boards showed signs of heavy rot, and the door and their frames were barely held up. The ceiling hung lower than it should and there several broken boards that poked through. Even though the boards around him groaned, the assassin wasn't fazed and kept his pace down the hall, he moved his head once in awhile to avoid a broken board or two. At the end of the hallway, Silent Wind slowly opened a door, and within the room laid metal working on the floor, walls, and ceiling to shield the room from the decayed building around it. However, there were no windows in the room. So the light was dimly lit at best.

The man slowly walked into the room and was careful to not make a noise, even with the door being shut behind him. In a corner, there was a metal cage with a lock on one of its sides. Inside, Alex lay slumped against a wall and unconscious. His clothes had black dust from the factory floor, and some smudged on his face. The man walked over to the cage and crouched. He gazed at the unconscious Preventor and made sure he still breathed. After a little bit, Silent Wind saw a three-year-old's face with baby blue eyes and was cheery as can be. He shook his head after he realized he had daydreamed, and started to walk away from the cage.

At the door he paused for a moment, and looked back at the cage. Then, he opened and walked through the door.

-------------------------

"How did this happen?" Colonel Une's words petrified Lumin as the Preventor team sat across a table from her. The Colonel herself stood up and stared down at them. "I want an answer. Now!"

"Well. We didn't know that Alex would walk out on us like that." Toki bravely spoke. "If we had, we wouldn't have left the base in the first place."

"Thank you, Watari. One thing concerns me though. Why were you off of base in the first place!" Une stared at the technician and he turned pale.

A pause went over the remainder of the group as Kaori and Misao thought of what to say so that they could still have their job. But, neither had to say anything. Lumin recovered from Une's earlier words and stood up to face Colonel Une.

"I thought it necessary that my team get some errands done together, and to get their minds off of the training they have been through."

"Errands?"

"Yes, Colonel. But, I didn't think..."

Une's face had anger all over it, and her voice was deep and strong. "Not thinking is correct. Do you have any idea how much trouble I've gone through to keep that boy off the books, and now he's missing. Most likely AWOL."

"We'll find him. Even if its the last thing I do on this team, he'll be back in Preventor hands."

"You know he had a discipline problem, and yet you left him alone. If you don't find him, you'll find yourself in a lot more trouble then him. Is that understand?"

"Yes, Colonel." She silently gulped.

"Well, now we have to..." Une was cut off when her personal aide walked in. "You know that I gave strict orders to not be disturbed unless.."

The Preventor aide stood straight and stared at the Colonel. "I have something important to show you from security."

"What is it?"

"Surveillance cameras showed Preventor Snow didn't leave alone."

Une stared grimly at the aide, and then at Lumin. "Who did he leave with?"

"A person dressed like a Preventor aide."

The Colonel let go of her anger toward Lumin, and walked around the table. "Show me." Une's aide walked out the door and the Colonel followed.

The team just sat still not sure if they should leave or not. Toki's face had returned to normal by this time, and looked over at Lumin.

"Someone dressed as a Preventor aide?"

"Ya I know. I just can't believe that Snow was stupid enough to fall for that."

"Agreed." The group quietly said in unison.

A voice called from the other side of the door. "Lumin. Come."

"Right." Hilde stood up and proceeded after Colonel Une.

--------------

Silent Wind stood upon a dark rooftop in the lower downtown area and observed people in the slums that tried to get by. His veil waved in the wind as though he and the city mourned what was lost long ago. Detroit hadn't been the building place it used to be. Businesses moved out of the area after the people there were too expensive to work with. Flint nearby suffered the same fate years before, but Detroit still had people that lived there whereas Flint was nothing but a ghost town. Most people in Detroit lack the will to live, but still somehow live on. The glimmering great lakes are the only things that still live without worry and inspire some, but too few to help.

The assassin shook his head in disappointment, and then walked away.

------------------

The screen in the base's security room displayed a freeze frame of a hallway with Alex and the fake aide as they walked down it. Alex's face was clear as day, but the aide's face was obscured by his hat and the man didn't looked directly at the camera. The only thing of the man that stood out was his chin and part of his nose.

Lumin and Une stared at the screen as they tried to figure out who the man was. Each examined the face thoroughly, but neither recognized him.

Une looked over at the security guard on duty. "Are there any better pictures that we can look at?"

"That is the best one we could get. The rest of them are less discernible."

"That's just ... great." Une looked back at the screen. _Didn't look at a single camera, even the hidden ones. This guy is very good... and scary._

Lumin's thoughts were on Alex and his stupidity. Though she didn't recognize the man with him, a thought bothered her. _I've seen that chin before, but where?_ She continued to think back in her past, but she couldn't remember who's chin that was.

As both Une and Lumin continued to look at the screen, Une's aide walked into the room with a note in hand. "Colonel Une, one of the security teams found this near the base."

The Colonel turned around and her hair swayed to her right side. The aide handed her the note. As she read over the note, Une appeared to be calmer and calmer on the outside, but hid her anger. "So this man wants to mess with us? We'll make him regret it." She stormed out of the room with the aide shortly behind her.

Lumin looked toward the door. _I wonder what could have been on that note that pissed her off like that._

-----------

_If you wish to see Snow again, I demand 20 million dollars to be delivered to the old MGM Casino by the Gundam pilot Heero Yuy by the end of the this week. If either of these conditions are not met, I will kill the Preventor on the spot. Don't think I won't either._

_-Silent Wind_

-----------

Heero sat his cockpit as he typed away on his keyboard. He surveyed one report then skipped to another one with the touch of the keyboard. The gundam pilot had been at this for the past couple of hours, then an incoming comm link made him look to his right side.

"Hmph."

------------

The sun was out and the old city could be seen clear as day. On one of the rooftops Silent Wind looked down on the old site of CoAmerica Park where the Detroit Tigers used to play. It was nothing but a shadow of its former self. Rumble lay everywhere, and seats were torn out of their foundation. It was a pitiful sight. In his mind this was another example of man's progress and disrespect for its past.

He shook his head then looked toward the sky. Something was in the air, and it sounded like a mobile suit. _So he has arrived. Hmmm.... Tonight should prove interesting. May the best... trained man win._


	17. Legacies Collide

Disclaimer I wish to say that I'm not the owner of Gundam Wing or the other series. Good night.

This chapter took way longer than it should have. Oh well, I hope you guys enjoy.

-------------

Chapter 16- Legacies Collide

"So Alex has been kidnapped." Heero unemotionally stared at Colonel Une. "And you called me in to help get him back?"

"It is true that we want him back, but the kidnapper also requested that you bring the ransom money." The Colonel slid the note over the table to Heero.

The gundam pilot slowly examined the note, and then he saw the name. He didn't show it, but he recognized the name on the note. It was a name Heero thought he wouldn't see again, and was kind of surprised that this Silent Wind was still alive. Heero's mentor said that he had killed the man, but wasn't completely sure and warned him of the stealthy assassin. Until now, the thought had faded in Heero's memory.

The brown-haired pilot looked back up the Colonel with tempt in his face. "The alias of the man who kidnapped Alex?"

"Yes. According to our sources..." Heero stood up and began to walk toward the door. "Heero, where are you going?"

"I'll deliver the ransom as ordered."

Une stood up in surprise and anger. "I haven't said everything yet."

"There is no point in saying everything. I'll go where I'm ordered" Heero walked out of the office.

"That's unusual. He didn't want to hear a thing about the ransomer..."

----------------------

Heero patted his chest and felt the wire tap was secure. _Alex has nothing to do with the past conflict between the two of us... so why kidnap him?_ There was only one chance that this operation would work. _He is a lure for sure... that must be all. _ But in his heart, the brown haired pilot knew there would be sadness ahead. _Silent Wind doesn't want the money. Yet, he demands it anyway._ He slid on a green shirt then a jacket and made sure the jacket was firm. _If its a fight he wants, I'll give him one... _He picked up the briefcase with the ransom money and began to walk toward the door. _But, I don't want to kill him.. if I don't have to._

----------------------

Though the note specifically said to have only Heero be there, the Preventors had the front of the old MGM Casino staked out with undercover people and a single surveillance van a good down a main street. Their preparations were complete several hours before the designated time Heero would show up, and Heero was due any minute to show up with a briefcase.

Hilde and Toki sat impatiently in the van as they observed screens with a view of the front MGM Casino and surrounding area. Everything was calm and peaceful at the moment.

"When will Heero arrive?"

"In a few minutes."

"What about 'him'?"

"No telling."

The two continued to stare at the screens for several more minutes without a word said.

Finally the nineteen year old Heero Yuy could be seen on one of the screens as he approached. He had a briefcase in hand and wore his typical green tank-top with brown pants. Heero's eyes examined his surroundings to make sure that Silent Wind hadn't gotten there before him.

Other than a few homeless people and a couple of undercover agents, the place was virtually devoid of anything human. The streets were filled with old garbage and reeked with decay.

The pilot let out a breath and continued onto the front of the building. Once he got there, he sat the briefcase down to his right foot. Heero took another step forward and proceeded to lean up against a wall.

Heero stood up against the wall for a few minutes. His blue eyes examined, but there wasn't a sign of Silent Wind. Yet he knew that Silent Wind watched him. _Where do you are you lurking Silent Wind?_ As another minute, Heero's patience kept steady as he continued to stare. Then, one of the MGM Casino doors opened up, the rough outside of the door gave way to lack lust inside of the door. He turned his head and examined the door. There was nothing that held the door open. _I guess he was here the entire time and even opened up the door. _The pilot began to walk toward the door.

--------------

"Damn these pilots!" Hilde slammed her fists on the console as she viewed walk into the MGM Casino. Then a metal door smashed into the floor on the other side of the open door. "We've got to get him out of there!..."

Toki nervously grabbed his radio and began to broadcast. "Operation compromised. We need to get the package out. Find any way to get inside." The technician let go of the button and looked back up to Hilde. But he saw nothing but the back doors wide open. He turned a knob on the radio and activated it.

"Lumin."  
"What is it, Toki?" Crackled over the radio.  
"Get back here on the double."  
"I'm going to find another way in."

In a sarcastic tone, "We have a wire tap on Heero. Let the others worry about finding a way in and get back here."

--------------

Heero stared at the metal door that sealed off his entrance. The door cracked the cement floor and extended into the low ceiling while it went from one wall to another. _I'll have ti find another way. _The pilot turned around with briefcase in hand and began to look around.

The lobby of the MGM Casino was torn apart with paint faded and walls that crumbled. The chandeliers were corroded but once in awhile flickered with ominous effect. The front desk was nothing but a pile of concrete and rotten wood. When the lights didn't flicker on, the lobby was a very dark and ominous. The place was simply a shadow of its former self.

_ So many shadows... he has picked his arena well._

_--------------_

In a broken down security room several screen flashed broken up images of hallways. Then one of the screens showed Heero as he entered a hallway. A bare hand reached and touched the screen. The hand slowly moved to the right and then pretended to grab Heero's neck. _Now to end the legacy of Odin Lowe._

--------------

_ Just remember Heero. He uses the shadows and shots one bullet for each kill..._

---------------

A lightning bolt raced across the sky as it created a beautiful spread of electricity, and Alex looked almost out of instinct upward to see the sky. He just missed it by moments, but saw a dark figure on the top of a building next to him. Another lightning bolt flashed, this time Alex saw the figure more clearly. This person had very dark clothes on, possibly black, along with a veil that covered his face. In the man's right hand, a desert eagle was pointed at Alex and he froze out of fear again.  
  
'Does it end this way?' He reached into his collar area and slowly pulled out the pendent that Duo had given him months earlier. He slowly rubbed the pendent with his thumb, but then let it go and back into the shirt. 'No. My promise to myself is broken, but I won't die so easily.'  
  
Alex booked down the back alley as fast as he could and managed, to his amazement, not to be shot at.

----------------

_ He has no compassion for anyone._

---------------

A brown haired toddler looked up at Silent Wind. The two locked eyes, even if one was covered while dark and the other was open and blue. The room they were in had several metal cribs similar to the one the boy was in and all of them had electronics surrounding the cribs, each had a function and made sure the child inside was in good health. Yet the other children there were huddled away the man in black, and were terrified of him, whereas this toddler seemed curious.

"What do you want?"

The toddler continued his stare.

"Would you stop staring at me? Be scared like the other ones."

The child lifted and tried to reach for the man's black veil. Silent Wind took a step back surprised at the child's action, but then crouched down while he leaned forward. The blue eyed child grabbed the veil.

"So you wanted to play? Well, that's different..."

---------------

_ He has lost his soul..._

_----------------_

On a nearby rooftop, a man cloaked in shadows observed the two as they walked away. He began to walk closer to the edge of the roof, and got hit by some nearby light. The man wore a black spandex outfit, with a black belt woven into the suit and held a desert eagle on each side. He also had a black leather trench coat over his outfit. To top it off, this man had a black head cover, similar to that of scuba divers. A black veil that was woven into the head cover; this way no one could see his face from any angle, except from below even then shadows covered his face.  
  
No thoughts ran through his mind and he was completely focused his sight on Duo and Alex. He came to realize that he had light on him and he slowly backed off into the darkness. He faded away slowly into darkness and vanished without a trace.

----------------

_ and his pride._

----------------

Silent Wind pointed one of his trusty Desert Eagles at his prey. For the first time in four years, he had finally cornered the infamous assassin, and supposed killer of Heero Yuy, Odin Lowe. Odin didn't have a gun drawn, but he couldn't reach for anything on his combat suit yet.

The two men were in an abandoned factory outside of Paris. Though abandoned, the factory's machines were at work and generated a massive amount of steam, gas, and humidity. Water dripped from cold machines as condensation built up.

Odin, with a cocky smile on his face, said, "Will you enjoy killing your prey now that I am cornered, or will you turn me in for the criminal that I am?"

"When I'm done with you, you'll beg for one of those options."

"Is that so..."

--------------

As Heero approached the main gambling area of the Casino, the darkness that had filled the room was wiped out by work light fixed to columns. Heero stopped as he examined what he could see of the room and mumbled. "I hope you guys are still getting this." The calmly walked into the room and examined more of the area. Old broken tables lined the area; some roulette wheels, blackjack, and various others. There were still some broken gambling machines on the other side of the room. After he took in the sight, he shouted, "I know you're here. There is no point in hiding in the shadows."

A dark figure stepped out from behind a column and ominously stared at Heero. Heero content with the stare glared Silent Wind back.

"Here is your money." Heero tossed the briefcase between him and the assassin. "Now, tell me where Alex is and everything else will be fine."

The black veil ruffled a little bit, but Silent Wind made no attempt to get the briefcase.

"So you didn't really want the money after all, you just wanted me to come to you."

Heero slowly reached down to prepare his gun. Silent Wind continued to stare. Heero kept up his guard as the staring match continued.

"This is meaningless what you're doing. If I don't stop you, the Preventors will. Win or lose, you will gain nothing."

_ Meaningless?_ Silent Wind tilted his head being slightly confused and then raised it up. "What do you know nothing about me, or why I must fight here!"

_ He speaks... and I've heard this voice before._

"You know nothing about the pain I had to endure, nor what... he did... what the man who raised you did to me! ... and this world!"

Heero shook his head in disappointment at Silent Wind's words as he realized who he really was. "Of all the people, I honestly hoped it wasn't you. Diel, you're shouldn't do this. You're a great bodyguard."

"So, you figured it out..." Silent Wind pulled off his black veil ski mask to reveal a middle-aged head with black hair and emerald eyes. Diel stared at Heero's eyes and they were still as emotionless back at the Sank Kingdom. "But you know my other famous client?"

"It's not your fault that Heero Yuy died."

"Who says I took the blame? Everyone stamped it on me. So I found a way to get back at the man who ruined mine and even those that were corrupt." Diel gripped his black veil mask and looked down at it for a moment. "The black veil is worn by grieving women at funerals. This one mourns for all the souls that died at my hands..."

_ I know what I must do. I won't be killing him since he is already dead to the world. _ Heero began to pull out his gun. "And the ones to come. It will miss you."

Silent Wind raised his Desert Eagle with deadly speed and fired a shot at Heero. Heero barely got out of the way of the bullet and the bullet ricocheted off the wall behind him. The gundam pilot pulled out his gun and tumbled forward behind a broken roulette table._ Damn this guy is good._ Heero tucked and rolled to another table while a bullet passed his head by mere inches from his head.

"What's the matter, Heero? You go soft over the years?"

"You wish..." Heero mumbled. The pilot lunged out from behind the table and had his gun trained on where Diel used to be. But, Diel wasn't there anymore. "Shit." Heero turned around and bashed in the face with a fist and staggered back. Then a kick knocked the gun out of his hand but the next punch Heero blocked. He held Diel's hand back and tried to slug Diel in the face, but Diel grabbed his hand.

"You're strong for an old man."  
"You're not half bad yourself."

Diel head butted Heero, and both men lost concentration. When Heero gained back his concentration he kneed the black-haired man in the crotch. The emerald for the first showed signs of pain as it spread throughout the body. Seizing the opportunity, Heero let go of his grip and kneed Diel's stomach. With a punch, Diel crashed into a broken down blackjack table. One of his Desert Eagles come out of its holster and slid next to a table by Heero. Heero walked over to the table and picked up the Desert Eagle. The pilot looked back at Relena's former bodyguard and the man had started to get back up.

"How dare you use that... have you no honor?"

"Yes, but as for you... You have none."

Diel saw Heero with one of his Desert Eagles pointed at him and the look of desperation was all over his face.

"I thought I wouldn't have to kill you... But I was wrong..."

Diel went for his remaining Desert Eagle, and then a shot rang out. He saw the bullet as it came at him, and it knocked him back when it hit him. Diel managed to stay up as he looked down as his chest and saw blood come out of the hole in his chest. Some blood started to come out of his lips, but he pulled out his gun anyway. A second bullet hit him and this time threw him back. Diel fell back onto the blackjack table he had just gotten up from. The gun had fallen out of his hand and slid away.

Heero calmly walked toward Diel with the gun still pointed him. Once the pilot finally got close enough, he saw that Diel fought to stay alive as blood spat out of his mouth and his hands covered the bullet holes. The pain seemed enormous as Heero observed that he could barely breath as well. "Tell me where Alex is."

Diel looked the Heero's eyes, and there was almost a sadness in them. "Left... pocket..." Heero looked down Diel's body and a pocket on the inside of his Gothic jacket. He reached down and pulled out a slip of paper with an address on it.

"You wanted me ... to..." Heero looked back at Diel's eyes, but his eyes were dead. His breath ceased, and Heero checked his pulse for half a minute. Silent Wind was dead. "May your soul finally find rest."

----------------

Heero stepped out of the front door of the MGM Casino as a second wave of Preventors entered the place to investigate what happened inside. The metal door had been lifted by the time he had gotten up there. His blue eyes glimpsed the piece of paper he had taken from Diel.

"Heero!"

The brown-haired pilot looked over to who called him. It was Preventor Lumin, and then he looked back to the piece of paper. He tore it in half and put one part into his pocket. He looked back up at her.

"I can't believe you went in there without..." Lumin stopped as he put up a piece of paper to her face.

"This is where Snow is being held. Get him." The Preventor grabbed the piece of paper and was about to say something to him. "Go now. I don't want to talk to anyone." She stepped away from him as he walked away from her.

-----------------

_ Heero,_

_ Odin's legacy died tonight. The one of hatred... but you were wrong about me. I did have my soul and humanity... thanks to someone who isn't even human..._

_ Diel._


	18. They Come

* * *

Disclaimer Gundam is a Bandai Co. product, not my own. 

It's been a hella long time since I got a chapter up. Sorry for the wait. Assuming anyone will still read this.

* * *

Chapter 17: They Come-

"You assured me that he wouldn't fail." Eizo had death in his eyes. Too many things had gone wrong in the past. Silent Wind's death was simply one of the last nails in the coffin for this operation in his mind. "I honestly didn't expect incompetence to come from him."

"It is distressing that my best man failed so miserably. But, this only shows that the Preventors are better equipped than…"

Eizo slammed the desk with his fist. "I don't care who killed him! The fact of the matter is that those four are still alive and breathing!" The old man fumed at his mouth.

"That is true, but…"

"But, what! With those four still alive, the entire operation is jeopardy!" He raised his hand to his face and rubbed his chin. "In fact, why shouldn't I call off this operation right now?"

"We've worked too hard over the years for this. Billions have been spent on this operation and the conquest of earth is so close to our finger tips. Those pilots might be alive, but you still have an army of capable pilots that can crush the Preventors and even better selected pilots with mobile suits to deal with those four." Yusao let out a breath as he thought of another thing to calm down and reason with Eizo. "In all honesty, we have had a few set backs, but the odds are stacked in our favor. Besides, they don't know anything about our strength or our tactics. The few battles we've had were…"

"Nothing more than to make the enemy think differently." Eizo interrupted Yusao in his little speech. "You're right. We've put too much time and energy into this operation to let it fall into the gutter."

A cigarette was lit and raised to Eizo's mouth. "Operation Winter commences in thirty six hours." He puffed on his cigarette and breathed the smoke back out. "Let winter fall onto earth."

* * *

Shortly after the death of Silent Wind, the Preventor team got transferred to the L2Y-89432 Colony in preparation of what was coming. The three remaining gundam pilots were also stationed at the colony. No one was sure what to expect, but what was certain was that the enemy was coming. 

Alex laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling blankly. He had said little since he had been freed from his prison. There wasn't much to say, he felt incredibly stupid to have fallen for that trap and accepted his house arrest. Though, in the back of his mind something bothered him. _I can't help but feel something was strange about that man. Even though he had me in his captivity, it seemed like he took measures to avoid injury... It must be that Heero was his real target... and wanted to kill me only after his primary target was eliminated._ The Preventor let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Heero."

* * *

"Jarrett!" 

The twenty-five-year-old major stopped in his tracks as he walked down a hallway, and turned around. What he saw was Orza as he ran down the hall. _Great, just what I didn't need._ Amuza adjusted his hat so that JA on it would be more properly aligned. "Hello, Orza. This isn't a good time."

The blond finally caught up with the major and tried to catch his breath. "The maintenance crew says that Todesengel is combat ready now."

"Hmm... It is? Very good." Amuza took a step back and continued down the hall.

"Thank you for telling me, but I must get going."

"You aren't even going to check on your mobile suit?"

"I'm too busy right now with the upcoming operation."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Orza stopped in his tracks as Amuza slowly made his way down the hall.

"Just remember your role in the upcoming battle Orza."

"I won't!"

"Good." _Just remember to die in the battle as well. That'll make my job a little easier._

* * *

Alex had finally gotten some rest in his bed. The covers barely covered him and partially draped over the side of the bed. His mouth hung open and drool slowly came out. It appeared that his sleep was a very sound one. 

The room itself was dark with a single alarm clock provided the room a small amount of light. Then, light poured into the room as the door slid open. Alex was unaffected as a shadow broke up the light from the door.

Hilde stepped forward from the door and the door slid closed behind her. She slowly made her way to the bed and looked at him as he slept. The bed covers were barely on him and the only thing on him were a pair of red boxers. She ran her hand through her dark blue hair as she sighed at his lack of decency. _It appears that work back at the Sank Kingdom was nothing more than a waste of time if he sleeps like this._ She crouched down by the bed and looked at his face. She examined his face and realized he was completely at rest with no worries on his mind. _I wish I could sleep like that again. _Hilde then got her head closer to Alex and her eyes started to cry a little bit.

She had been under a lot of stress to get Alex back during his captivity, and the stress of having to deal with the team had began to add up; little sleep, poor food plans, and almost constant busy work were more than most people would deal with. Up until now, Hilde thought she had being doing the right thing by protecting peace by leading a team with Alex in it. However, she realized she wasn't protecting peace so much as being near him and protecting him.

"Alex…" She slowly made her way closer to his face with tears that came down her face. "I won't let that happen again…"

Just as she was about to kiss him on the cheek, Alex began to stir. Hilde backed off a little bit. "Rio…" His head and body rolled to one side. "Don't go…" Alex then continued to roll back and forth in his bed. "No… No…"

Hilde began to back off even further. _Wonderful. A nightmare. I guess, he wasn't sleeping so soundly afterall._

"Rio! NO!" Alex viciously woke up and cold sweat dripped down his body. He took one deep breath followed by another. "I hate that dream…" He scratched his head then looked around for the alarm clock. Hilde was shocked that Alex had woken up and wasn't sure what to do. _Can't go through the door…_

His glance went upon Hilde and moved to his shelf with the alarm clock on it. "6:30 figures…" _Shit._

Alex's eyes jolted open as his head snapped back to Hilde. "What are you doing here!" He looked down at his attire and pulled the covers over himself.

Hilde frantically stood back up and acted like she was in charge. "It's 6:30. It's time for breakfast."

Alex looked at her awkwardly as this was the first time he had noticed with blush on her face. "Isn't breakfast at 7:30?"

Hilde was back into her act. "Breakfast starts at 6. You wouldn't know that since you don't wake up until 7:30." Hilde cleared her throat. "Since you're awake now, you saved me the trouble of having to wake your ass up." She made her way back to the door and it slid open.

"Whatever…" Alex sat confused. "Though I have to say…"

Hilde turned around and faced Alex again. "Snow, get your ass out of bed and get some…" Hilde's vision blurred and felt light headed. "bre…" Her body felt completely weak, and then she collapsed into the hallway.

"Hilde!" Alex jumped out of bed and ran over to the door. He looked down upon her as she laid unconscious and her dark blue hair in a mess. "Are you okay?" He reached down and picked up her chest. His right hand felt her forehead, and it was hot. "She is burning up… shit."

Alex picked her up fully and carried her in his arms. He began to run down the hall in his boxers as he made his way to the nearest infirmary.

* * *

A doctor came from behind some curtains in the infirmary Alex had rushed Hilde to. The doctor looked at some notes on a clipboard as he stepped out. 

"Is she alright?" Alex sat in a chair in the infirmary still in his boxers.

The doctor looked up at Alex and narrowed his eyes. "I took you to go and get dressed, then come back." Alex blinked in response. "Nevermind…" The doctor flipped the papers back onto the clipboard. "She is doing better. Your friend had a temperature of 101. She also has signs of sleep depredation."

"Sleep depredation… what's that…"

"Lack of sleep."

"Oh." Alex looked confused. "Wait. Lack of sleep? That can't be right."

The doctor pulled a pair of glasses out of his pockets and put them over his eyes. "It is. And for the love of God…"

The door to the infirmary violently opened as Colonel Une and her personal aide walked into the infirmary. Her temper and concern were apparent as she looked at the doctor. "What is the status on my Preventor?"

"She was running a fever and had signs of sleep depredation. Also signs of high stress on parts of her bodies." The doctor replied.

"I want to know her status, not what her status was." Une walked up to the doctor was about to bypass the doctor.

The doctor blocked her advance. "Don't go in there. What I was trying to say is, she showed signs of over working herself. But, she is fine now. However, she'll need a few days of rest."

"What do you mean a few days of rest? We can't afford her having to rest for the next few days." Une bitterly looked the man in the eyes.

"Colonel." Alex spoke up and saluted Une. "I don't see why she can't rest for a few days. Me and the others can do without her for a few days if it helps her get better."

The Colonel turned her head toward Alex and stared. "What are you doing here… and why are you in your boxers?"

"Um…"

"This man brought your Preventor here after she collapsed." The doctor interrupted Alex and Une turned to the doctor. "However, I'm still not sure why he is only in his boxers."

Une turned back to Alex. "Colonel, she collapsed in my room after she attempted to get me up for breakfast."

Une looked curiously at Alex then to the curtain where Lumin was at. "I'll have to talk to her after she wakes up about that matter."

"What matter? She only tried to wake me up for breakfast."

"Snow!" Une yelled. "We have bigger problems. An hour ago, our forces detected what appears to be high activity at Colony BX-889. This activity is only caused by one thing Snow."

"Mobile suits..."

"That's correct. We finally found them. We're setting out later today to pre-empt any attack they have planned." The Colonel straightened out her glasses. "So, I suggest that you get more suitable attire, unless you plan on making the enemy laugh to death."

"Yes ma'am." Alex saluted one last time then headed off.

* * *

A crowd of pilots stood in front of a group of mobile suits. The Flugtod and a new mobile suit stood by the Flugtod. The suit was called the Todesengel and it looked more fearsome than its spheroid-shouldered counterpart next to it. It was mostly black with purple and blue coloring added in. The mobile suit stood at about 16 meters tall and its wing span was 18m long. The wings of this mobile suit were jagged in several spots and had chain links that dangled down. Its single lens camera was colored red. The head itself was stream-lined with jagged parts to aid for any air flow. It had some chains embedded in its main torso that lead down to the legs. At the hips, several spikes protruded downward, two handles stuck on either side, and two additional circles were in the hip as well. The feet of the mobile suit was forked outward instead of the traditional single foot for a normal gundam. Both suits looked out of place with the other as they stood there. Various other standard mobile suits lined the rest of the hangar. 

"The dawn of a new age is upon us!" Amuza exclaimed as he stood in front of Todesengel. "In the past, humanity has tried and failed to rule itself. Governments have come and gone. The system they have right now will also leave. However, we must be the ones that will show our fellow humans that what will bring is a better system of government!" The troops cheered in reply. "The upcoming battle isn't going to be easy nor will it be terribly hard. The Preventors have three of the gundam pilots on their side, but they are not invincible! We can defeat them! Trust in me and do your duty. We will win this battle, I guarantee you this!" The troops cheered again. "Who is with me?" The troops cheered and exclaimed more.

"Good luck on the battlefield."


	19. Refractions

Disclaimer

This story is about the Gundam Wing universe; however I don't own that storyline. So there, lawyers will be happy now.

Chapter 18: Refractions-

A brown-haired, blue-eyed pilot sat in his cockpit with his helmet at his side. Unlike the Gundam pilots, his hair was unkempt with hair that went all over the place. He simply looked tired though he had plenty of sleep. Alex didn't look like he could pilot, but he had to pilot in the upcoming battle. He was still concerned over Hilde's condition, but had no choice but to put it in the back of his mind.

* * *

Alex stood by the door to the infirmary, but held back as he thought of what he should do. Though he had carried Hilde earlier, he still had little idea about the Colonel's reaction to his statement about breakfast. He only stood there and continued to work up the nerve to go in there, himself.

Just then Misao and Toki could be seen down the hall as they approached the infirmary. The grey-haired Toki walked beside Misao who carried a clipboard with some papers on it. They were chatting about something but nothing Alex could understand until they got in range.

"So she is just sick from the stressful job?" Misao asked as he looked over the doctor's report.

"Yeah. Stress does a wonderful of screwing over the body mechanics." Toki replied as he glanced over Misao's shoulder to read the doctor's report. "… a nice fever to boot as well."

Misao sighed as he handed the report over to Toki. "Hopefully she'll get better before we go out into combat." As the red-haired pilot looked up, he saw Alex down the hall and waved. "Snow, I didn't expect to see you here. What are you doing here?"

Alex didn't want to answer Misao, but he knew that the pilot was expecting him to. "I was waiting for you guys to show up. We have things to do, and not much time to do them." His blue eyes escaped their sight as he proceeded to walk toward them and then passed them. "Come on, let's get going."

* * *

Alex checked over his console as he went over his checklist. His thrusters were functional, and fuel tanks were fuel. The water stored within Icedig was also full. The oil for joints was also being injected at optimal rates. All the electronics onboard were also functioning correctly, though there was an extra piece of equipment. Alex didn't approve of this piece of equipment, but to have it removed would have been a bitter argument with another pilot. It just wasn't worth arguing over, and besides deep down Alex believed that he didn't need it.

* * *

Alex walked down the catwalk that branched off to several mobile suits. The suits stood ready for battle, with cockpits closed or about to be closed. Misao's blue Taurus and Kaori's dark green Taurus were on his right. Each Taurus had an upgraded Taurus rifle, and had revamped armor. Not the pushovers that normal Taurus are like. Deathscythe Hell, Sandrock, and Wing Zero were on Alex's left and appeared to be most combat ready. As he proceeded down the catwalk, Icedig appeared from behind Wing Zero. However, the cockpit door was wide open.

"What the…" Alex kicked off the catwalk and glided toward the open cockpit. He grabbed a hold of Icedig and peeked inside. There sat Heero in his pilot suit as he was about to complete an installation in Icedig. "What are you doing in Icedig, Heero!"

"Doing you a favor." Heero continued on with the installation.

"Favor?" Alex looked at the hardware that Heero was about to finish the installation of. "What kind of favor involves putting some piece of hardware into Icedig?"

"One, we might need later." He lifted the latch and sealed the hardware into place. Heero then rose up and looked at Alex so he would move aside. He moved aside as Heero passed by him.

As Heero got to the catwalk and grabbed a hold of the railing, "Serious…" Heero looked back to Alex. "What did you put into Icedig?"

Heero let out a breath and calmly looked at Alex. "Zero System."

Alex's initial reaction was of shock. How dare Heero install that system into Icedig. Both he and Heero knew what happened when Alex was introduced to the system, and Alex wanted nothing to do with that. Sweat dripped down his visor as thoughts of the possibilities ran through his head. "You put that thing in Icedig!" Alex exclaimed. "I'm going to be restrained…"

"It isn't activated. If you need it, it's there. But you'll have to type in ZERO to activate it." He shook his head at Alex's reaction. "Don't think about it otherwise."

"What am I suppose to think then?"

Heero's left arm pointed toward the general direction of where the operation was about to take place at. "That battlefield. Nothing else."

Alex blinked as Heero glided off toward Wing Zero. He slowly drifted back into Icedig and sat down. The cockpit door closed behind him. He took off his helmet and laid it by his side. His blue eyes looked up at the screen. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

* * *

After he completed his checklist, Alex looked at the slot where Heero had inserted the Zero System at. He tried not to think about that system. But in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure if he would survive another round of Zero. He shook his head and freed his mind up for the time being. The battle ahead is more important than the Zero System.

* * *

A map of Colony BX-889 hung from the wall. Several marks had been made on the map with some faint arrows on it. Colonel Une stood in front of the map with the Gundam pilots, the Preventor team, and several Generals.

"As all of you know, we have little time to plan out this battle. However, what we have developed is battle that several of you have agreed on." Une pointed toward the southern end of the colony. "MS Division 8 and 12 will attack here. They will be joined by Sandrock and the Magwanac Corps. The target in this area is the main and adjacent docks of this region. Once this artery is cut off, they'll be forced to break through or deploy their mobile suits in other docks. Is that clear?" One General nodded along with Quatre.

Une moved her hand to the area east of where she had just pointed. "MS Division 10 and 13 will attack this area. The Preventor team lead by Heero Yuy will assist. Your main objective is to both secure the main docks in the region, but to also break through their defenses. Since, we believe this is the weakest part of both the colony and their defenses." She looked at the Preventor team. "However, they will most likely fortify, if not counter, with their strongest suit… most likely more than just the blue suit encountered in the past. Is that clear?" A General and the pilots nodded.

She then moved her hands back to where the first was suppose to be. "MS Division 9 will protect from flanking from this direction." She then moved her hand back over to the other area. "MS Division 7 will protect against flanking in this area." The Colonel then moved her hand to the middle of the two areas. "MS Division 2 will be in reserve and serve as auxiliary for either attack as needed."

She let out a breath as her eyes locked on Duo and moved her hand to the other side of the map. "Due to DeathScythe Hell's capabilities, Duo, you'll head out ahead of us and attempt an infiltration on this side of the colony. You're timing should coincide a few minutes after our initial attack. Hopefully, their attention will be diverted from your area. Go straight for the heart of the enemy, and destroy their leader. We can't allow him to live any longer. Hopefully nothing will go.."

"You're talking to the God of Death. It's no sweat."

"That is assuming that their forces are deployed to counter our attack." Une adjusted her glasses. "You have to assume that they will have defense in that region. However, don't let that slow you down."

No sound disturbed the air after Une made her last comment. She raised her hand to salute and all of the officers and pilots saluted back. "Good luck and dismissed."

* * *

Alex let a sigh as he looked through his screen. Outer space was once again empty and gloomy to him. The stars were the only thing that broke the monotony of space, and then the colony came into sight.

"Let's get this over with."

* * *

Author's Notes-

I'll finish this bloody fic. I don't care if no one reads it. I'll fix my errors as I find them. I do apologize for the inconvenience otherwise.

Anyway, from here on out… drugs, sex and rock… er, wrong quote. Enjoy, and have a nice day.


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